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duhragonball · 1 year

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Dragon Ball Super 015

Finally, a good episode.

Okay, let me start off by saying that I have occasionally defended the Flanderization of Videl in Dragon Ball Super, but now that I’m rewatching this show, I realize what people have been complaining about. Every time we see Gohan and Videl on this show, they’re way too saccharine and dull.

In Gohan’s case, I don’t mind it as much, since he’s been a nerd since Day One, and without an enemy to fight, he’s not going to suddenly rock the orange gi and kick ass like he does on all the promotional art for this series would like you to believe.

But in Videl’s case, being a baby-maker is pretty much her entire role in this show. At least 18 gets to tease Krillin and look for big cash payouts wherever possible. Videl doesn’t get any of that here. And my defense of this has always been that Videl’s character arc started with her as a teenage vigilante, but she doesn’t have to stay there, and she’s allowed to become something else over the course of the story. But Dragon Ball Super never settles on what that something else is. Gohan has his biology career, but what does Videl want outside of her home life?

The closest we’ve ever seen to a payoff for this was in the Super Hero movie, where they needed a reason for Piccolo to have to pick Pan up from school, and that meant Videl had to be busy with something else, something as important to her as Gohan’s studies are to him. And that turned out to be a martial arts class that she teaches, which makes plenty of sense. For some reason, I kept wanting to say it was a self-defense class, but she told Piccolo they were in a tournament that day, which sounds more advanced. Then again, this is Videl we’re talking about, and I can imagine how she started out wanting to teach women basic self-defense skills, and it turned into this badass dojo getting into rivalries with other schools.

I have a whole head canon about Videl’s school, but I don’t have time for that right now. In DBS #15, she’s about to cook dinner, when Gohan makes a big deal about wanting to cook for her, only he’s really bad at it, and they both talk to her belly, which gets pretty cloying after a while.

Meanwhile, Vegeta’s been standing on a mesa for several hours. Days? Long enough that dust has piled up on his boots. How is this training?

Meanwhile, Goku wants to go back to training on King Kai’s planet, but Chi-Chi refuses to let him go. She’s already spent and saved all the money they got from Mr. Satan in Episode 1, and so she wants Goku to go back to his career as a farmer. Even if they don’t need the money, she still wants him to be a regular working joe, especially now that he’s about to be a grandfather.

I should point out that Cynthia Crantz’s performance as Chi-Chi gets a lot easier on the ears in this one. Crantz has played Chi-Chi since way back in 1999, and she’s always been excellent, but she sounded like she was recovering from a cold in Episodes 1-14, and it feels like she got back in the groove around here.

But the real meat and bones of this episode is a press event held by YOUR World Champion of Martial Arts, Mister Satan. During the Goku/Beerus fight, the public could feel shockwaves from the punches, and everyone wants to know what that was all about. So Mr. Satan weaves a tall tale about how he rescued the world from a dangerous criminal syndicate, only to discover that they were secretly in league with...

Beebus, the God of Destruction! Naturally, Mr. Satan challenged this menace, but he wasn’t strong enough to defeat him, until...

... Mr. Satan discovered a divine power of his own, and transformed into a god himself! Fuck yeah!

WELCOME TO EARTH, YOU BAT-EARED JERK!

GET HIS ASS!

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!

Then some aliens show up. Turns out they somehow learned of the real Battle of Gods that took place on Earth, and they wanted to congratulate the hero who fought Beerus and lived to tell the tale. Mr. Satan accepts the credit, but then the alien crew’s strongest warrior challenges Mr. Satan to a match. According to the tradition on their planet (Planet Snack), he can’t properly honor Satan’s heroics until he’s experienced his power firsthand.

So Mr. Satan uses the old stomach ache trick to excuse himself. He calls Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, hoping to find someone to fight in his place, but can’t reach any of them. By the time he comes out of the restroom, everyone’s assembled a fighting stage, so he can’t back out.

Then Goku flies along, carrying his tractor. It broke down, and Bulma’s not in to fix it for him, so he’s just sort of been flying around town, hoping to find someone else to help him. Satan offers to help him out, but first he wants Goku to take his place in this fight, and Goku’s down to clown, just as long as his wife doesn’t find out.

Except his wife does find out, because she’s passing by this same area after grocery shopping with Piccolo. Uh-oh.

So Goku’s busted, and he asks Satan to punch him so he can pretend to get knocked away so no one will notice him flying. But he has to grab his tractor on the way, so it looks really awkward and hilarious. Also, this doesn’t fool Chi-Chi at all. He might as well have fought the alien. I mean, in for a penny...

So now Mr. Satan is completely cornered, so he has no choice but to fight. He psyches himself up, but as the alien strikes, he sees something that takes all the fight out of him...

... which would be Mr. Satan’s dog, Bee, who had been waiting in the car, like a good boy. Then he crawled out of the car window, like a good boy and walked up to the ring, like a good boy. And now he’s frightening the aliens, like a good boy. Bee is a good boy, is what I’m trying to say here.

I guess the aliens were like cat people or something? I mean, they kind of look like cats, but not enough for the joke to land, I think. Then again, Beerus also looked like a cat, so maybe they had to adjust the design so these aliens wouldn’t be mistaken for Beerus. Anyway they hate dogs, so they impose a quarantine on Earth. There’s some lines that suggest they were planning to conquer Earth, but I don’t understand why they would even consider such a thing when the planet had just repelled Beerus. Anyway, it’s full of dogs, so they’re not going back.

But they left behind the medal they presented to Mr. Satan, and Bee picks it up for him, like a good boy. Every frame of Bee in Dragon Ball Super looks like it was drawn by someone who only saw a dog once in his entire life, and he’s trying to recreate the image from memory, and it looks awesome.

Meanwhile, Goku’s back at his house, but he doesn’t dare go inside to see his deformed son...

... because Chi-Chi will shove this pole up his butt if she sees him.

So now Goku has to sleep in the yard. Is this some sort of kinky thing they do? You be the judge.

And that’s it. Let’s check out one more shot of Super Saiyan Mr. Satan before we go.

Yeah, that’s the stuff.

#dragon ball #dragon ball super #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #goku #mr satan #bee #chi chi #piccolo #goten #vegeta #gohan #videl

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 308: VIBE: CHECKED

Previously on BnHA: Lots and lots of Shindou idk what else to tell you.

Today on BnHA: Tired Nomad Deku rescues Shindou from Muscular, and us from Shindou. Muscular is all “OH BOY I SURE CAN’T WAIT TO FIGHT DEKU AGAIN AFTER HE TOTALLY KICKED MY ASS THE LAST TIME!! I’M SURE THIS TIME WILL GO DIFFERENTLY SEEING AS HE’S HAD ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR’S WORTH OF ADDITIONAL TRAINING, AND ALSO HAS SIX FOURQUIRKS NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE CONFIDENCE THAT COMES WITH HAVING EIGHT OTHER PEOPLE’S SOULS CHILLING OUT INSIDE HIM OFFERING MORAL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.” Deku is all, “[kicks Muscular’s ass effortlessly].” Muscular is all, “[gets his ass totally kicked].” I for one am very satisfied with this, and with respect to all, I would like to hereby declare this post a discourse-free zone. I’m just happy to see my son out here making good use of his FOURQUIRKS, and more importantly beating Muscular in less than seventeen pages so we can all go on with our lives lol.

damn Deku since when were you allowed to look this cool

from this perspective and with the smoke, cape, backpack, and mask more or less obscuring his actual profile, he looks less like a sixteen-year-old boy and more like a grownass man

OH SNAP

we got a glimpse of this in the cleaned-up scan of 307, but seeing both of his eyes looking so distinctively All Might-esque here is... whoa. I mean we know that his face still looks pretty normal underneath the mask and he doesn’t actually have the black sclera, but still, this is an awesome look. mini-Might

lol Muscular

you and me both. I mean no offense, but yeah

so Deku is just standing there silently

typical Deku. tight-lipped and expressionless. mum’s the word. quiet as a mouse. silent as a grave

okay no but seriously this is so weird and creepy though you guys. Deku please say something or else I’m just gonna mindlessly say whatever stupid things come into my head in an effort to make things less awkward

so Muscular is all “I should probably make a cool speech about revenge but Horikoshi couldn’t think of anything good so I’m just going to stand here clenching my fist real slowly”

“I’m not here to go on a monologue” he says, as he monologues about not monologuing

okay you guys I confess I have only read through/watched the Deku VS Muscular fight once because the arm-breaking is just way too uncomfortable for me to revisit. and so as a result, I have completely forgotten Whatever The Deal Is with Muscular’s eye lmao so let me go look it up real quick

okay so it’s a prosthetic, obviously, and he changes it out according to his mood. that part does sound familiar. I just can’t remember which eye is supposed to indicate which mood. don’t tell me I actually have to go back and reread this shit

lol I’m skimming through chapter 75 now and remembering/realizing that I hardly paid any attention to this the first time around because as soon as I found out the villains were after Kacchan my brain was like “TIME TO FOCUS ON THIS AND ONLY THIS NOW AND FOREVER” and yeah. ah memories

anyway so he started out with the flower-looking eye, and then later on he was all

which begs the question, how on earth could I have ever forgotten the most ridiculous panel I’ve ever read lmao

anyway, but so after all of that, I'm only just now realizing that this isn't one of his previous eye prosthetics in the current chapter; this is an ACTUAL FUCKING ROCK that he's just randomly shoved into his eye socket fkdsjlk

so basically (1) I did all of that painstaking research for nothing, five whole minutes of my life wasted THANKS A LOT, and (2) what, and I have never meant this more emphatically, THE FUCK

anyway so now he's leaping at the building that Deku is standing on top of. but he’s not aiming anywhere near Deku though, wtf

(ETA: HAHA YOU BROKE ALL YOUR MUSCLES YOU LOSER.)

...huh

lmao okay then. I hope those annoying citizens in the building next door are watching this go down and rethinking their life choices

dlkdkljk

just keep standing there pressed right up against the window, why don’t you. “WHAT’S GOING ON THIS SUPER CLOSE COLLAPSING BUILDING IS BLOCKING OUR VIEW.” well, folks, we’ve long since known there’s a critical shortage of hero and villain brain cells, but what we’re learning now is that civilian brain cells are also in short supply

OH THANK GOD DEKU IS FINALLY TALKING THAT WAS ACTUALLY UNSETTLING AS FUCK

SO HE’S STILL OUR GOOD, POLITE, WORRIED, CONSIDERATE DEKU UNDERNEATH THAT COOL AND MYSTERIOUS VENEER. for real, thank fuck, because I swear to god if he suddenly started acting like the Dekus in all of the vigilante AUs my interest in this series would have dropped something like 50% lol. just because he dropped out of school and ran away from home and is currently dressed like the physical manifestation of a Linkin Park playlist doesn’t mean he’s not still the WORLD’S BIGGEST DORK okay

I MEAN, THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. HE’S APOLOGIZING FOR THE DELAY

PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED SHINDOU YOU REQUESTED. BEST REGARDS!!!

OH MY GOD WHY IS HE SUCH A BADASS

something about making bold, confident statements while obscured in smoke?? idk but damn it fucking works

ffjkkl

more importantly, should you tell him you actually need your copy of Shindou in excel format and not pdf?? on the one hand you don’t want to sound ungrateful, but on the other hand what are you even supposed to do with this

this chapter so far consists of like 50% smoke, but on the other hand Deku VS Kacchan 2 had a lot of cinematic smoke too so who am I to complain

OMG IS IT HIS ARMS

IDK DID YOU?! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS. PLEASE, AT SOME POINT THIS FIGHT HAS GOT TO ACTUALLY ADVANCE THE PLOT

OHHHHHHH

IT’S EN’S QUIRK!! OH MY GOD OKAY THAT’S ACTUALLY AWESOME

I CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF DISCOURSE RUMBLING IN THE BACKGROUND BUT I DON’T CARE LOL. WON’T CATCH ME EVER SAYING NO TO ANOTHER SIXQUIRK. GO AHEAD, BRING THEM ON, I WANT TO SEE THEM ALL but take it easy though Deku. don’t want to give yourself lung cancer or anything

also it’s good to see that in a very real sense he’s not fighting alone. the Vestiges really did mean it when they said they could appear more easily now. this is on a whole other level

so is this whole next page still En talking, or someone else? because whoever it is sure is chatty

okay, several things

pretty sure it is En, because he keeps saying “I suppose.” for someone who never said two words until one page ago, this guy sure never shuts up. we can’t all follow Muscular’s lead I suppose. oh my god now I’m doing it too

really like the suggestion of Deku using the SIXQUIRKS like tools in an arsenal, because that’s what he’s good at! it’s almost like he’s been training for this his entire life. “you value quirks too much” LOOK HE JUST THINKS THEY’RE COOL OKAY IS THAT A CRIME

where the fuck did all this rope come from

not gonna ask what the fuck that thing is sticking out from the back of his utility belt. Horikoshi will surely explain this

is that a fucking jetpack. I’m sorry Deku were six fucking quirks not enough for you. you can fucking float??? but JUST TO BE SAFE, LET’S STRAP A PAIR OF ROCKETS TO OUR SHOULDERS IDK

-- or wait, is this all supposed to be like a visual representation of En’s metaphor?? OH MY GOD AM I JUST STUPID LOL, DON’T ANSWER THAT. NEVER MIND. NEW LIST!!

rope = blackwhip

jetpack = float

radio = danger sense

and so I’m guessing that this ridiculously phallic thing is supposed to be a flare or something?? and that = the new quirk, smokescreen. well that was a fucking ride lmao we now return you to our regularly scheduled chapter

so now Deku is floating to his heart’s content and thinking that he’ll just sneak up on Muscular and vibe check his ass or whatever

WOOOOOOOO DANGER SENSE YESSSS I LOVE THIS FOR HIM

okay guys, I'm gonna press pause here for a sec to make a serious note, because I am loving the shit out of this, but tbh I'm having trouble enjoying it as much as I want to because I keep getting anxious thinking about the discourse. I know that a lot of the fandom has very strong opinions on Deku's character development one way or the other, and I want to respect that. but I also really have no spoons to debate this topic at all beyond what I’ve already weighed in on. so if it’s all the same to everyone, I plan on staying out of this discussion, at least this week

anyway! that said, YEAH BOI GET HIS ASS

VIBE: CHECKED. CURB: STOMPED. HOTEL: TRIVAGO

-- OF COURSE HE’S STILL FUCKING FINE LOL HE CRASHES INTO BUILDINGS FOR FUN IDK WHAT I WAS EXPECTING

dammit Muscular. how many fucking quirks does it take to beat you?! the annoying thing is that even with all of his cool new powers, Deku is still something of a mismatch against him. anyway r.i.p. to all these poor buildings

OOOOOHHHHH

you guys have no idea how intrigued I am at the prospect of watching Deku try to play both good cop and bad cop here lmao

anyway so Muscular says he doesn’t know, go figure

“I’m not here to make small talk or anything” he says as he small talks about not small talking

OH MY GOD DEKU

are you really gonna talk no jutsu all of these villains from now on?? that last battle really did have a profound impact on you, huh! interesting

you guys he’s really doing it omg

Deku this guy tried to murder a five-year-old literally just for fun. I mean more power to you, but holy shit you’re really gonna try to defeat Muscular with anger management therapy huh

I MEAN

WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT RESPONSE COMING dlkjslkjk

FUCK’S SAKE DEKU, I KNOW YOU MEAN WELL BUT THEY CAN’T ALL HAVE TRAGIC PASTS KIDDO

but. I have to admit, I do still like that he tried. probably knew just as well as we did what the end result was going to be, but still. he made the effort in good faith and I respect that

uh oh

why do I get the feeling Muscular just got a whole lot deader

oh my god oh my god he’s doing the “powering up” stance ffff don’t fucking tell me you can still use your fucking arms here, Deku

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT’S THIS??

okay so basically he’s saying that whatever it was he sensed in Tomura, he doesn’t sense from Muscular. which, yeah, that sounds exactly right. good judge of character here lol

AHHHHAHAHA YESS

WHOOPS, GET FUCKED I GUESS

WOOOOHOOOOOOOO

lmao so apparently this is the belated result of Shindou’s attack from chapter 307?? I’ll be damned. good for you Shindou!! I always liked you buddy. please just take my word on that and don’t fact check that statement

okay lol the one tiny bit of discourse I will allow is that it’s bullshit that he just did that with his right arm. like, I’ll fully acknowledge that. that makes no fucking sense, and I demand an explanation from the Great Plot Hole Filler himself. he’s never let us down before when it comes to continuity so I’m trusting him not to suddenly start now

that said, we love to see a rematch against a boring guy settled quickly and decisively within the span of a single chapter. THANK YOU

I like that Deku implies that his power is being a smart nerd who battles villains using the power of ANALYTICS. he basically didn’t do anything except restrain Muscular and wait for Shindou’s attack to take effect while halfheartedly checking to see if he regretted any of that murder and stuff

(ETA: and almost forgot to mention, he made excellent use of all four of his active SIXQUIRKS. it’s like the chapter title said; this is basically him fighting all-out, and it’s a sight to see.)

also, as cool as the mask was, this just feels right. like, we had our fun, now let us see his face, yes good

anyway, I think this was a good start towards establishing What’s Up With Deku Right Now! so if it’s all the same to Horikoshi, I would next like to take some time to explore Why’s Up With Deku. that, and What’s Up With Everyone Else, Especially Kacchan. por favor

#bnha 308 #midoriya izuku #muscular (bnha)#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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themonkeycabal · 3 years

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WandaVision Ep 4 SPOILERS

Yes, spoilers,

Wherein I watch and say stuff that might or might not be worth reading.

After a little bit of a lackluster start, there was good story progress last week. An escalation of weird, which I appreciated. I'll probably have to relive it, because Disney doesn't want to let me skip the previously. Ever. Why are you the way you are, Disney?

Geraldine/Monica is made of whispery voices and swirling dust and such. Weird. She's sitting in a chair, sleeping, and apparently being reconstituted. She wakes to a hospital room but outside is chaos. Lots of yelling and people running about. There's like swirling dust or human confetti everywhere, and other people are being reconstituted left and right. Seems unusual. Not the sort of thing that normally happens in hospitals. Oh, are they being un-snapped? The great un-snappening. The un-snapapalooza. The fall of the snappocalypse. I'll stop. I guess we're in a flashback of sorts.

Dudes, Monica just like full on hip checked some dude into the boards. She didn't mean it, but, damn, that guy went flying. Nobody knows what's going on, it's madness. A doctor recognizes her and asks where she went and Monica's all "uh, what? I took a nap?" Napping and then snapping and then popping back into existence. Ain't that just the way? Oh, sad, her mom died while she was missing for five years. :(

Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division — please nobody expect me to remember that. They have a Cape Canaveral looking compound with multiple launch pads and a very large hanger smack in the middle. Gee how neat for them that they get to operate out in the open, Phil Coulson says (in my head) with a whole lot of sarcasm.

Oh, right, they called it the Blip. The Great Un-Blippening. That doesn't sound as good. What on earth with the massive monitors in the main lobby. Nobody likes watching the news that much. Monica is trying to brazenly walk through the front doors with a badge that doesn't work and wow, security guy is kind of a dick. Oh, she belongs there. Captain Monica Rambeau. Captain, good for her.

And now security dick is revealed to be even more dickish, since this is just after the Blip and she's trying to go back to work. Like, SWORD couldn't put out a memo "Be on the lookout for recently unblipped personnel. Don't be massive dicks to them when their security badges don't work, because of how they got blipped and all"? Also maybe a reorientation packet, or like a desk out front "Back from the Blip? Talk to Lt. Mandy Smith in HR about your reactivation options today!" I'm just spitballing here. I get it was chaotic, but that's no reason to let the unblipped get a rude welcome. It wasn't their fault Thanos was critically dumb.

Blip no longer sounds like a word.

Anyway, the acting director is fortunately there to meet her before she could drop her gloves and punch the security dick in the dick. Aww, Maria Rambeau is on the Wall of Valor, or whatever they call it at SWORD.

Things aren't going well at SWORD. The Blip put the hurt on the division. Their remaining astronaut trainees have chickened out. Oh, what if there was like crew up in orbit that got blipped and then when they unblipped five years later … yikes. Well, I'll allow the 'lost their nerve' may have a solid basis in horribleness that probably occurred around the Blip. I retract the 'chickened out' comment.

This is a very long walk-and-talk. Maria Rambeau built SWORD "from the ground up". Bless.

The Director has grounded Monica. Well, actually, her mom grounded her, making protocols in case vanished personnel one day returned. Lol. Though, I mean, I'd guess she'd know, what with Carol and all. "I know it's a raw deal, but there is one positive takeaway. She believed you'd come back." Awww

So, she's off to deal with some sort of missing persons case in New Jersey overseeing the loan of one of their drones for the FBI. I guess Wanda will be the missing person. Yep, she's off to Westview. Which has seen better days.

Hey! It's Agent Woo! I like you Agent Woo! Did I know he was in this? I don't remember. Randall Park's great. A happy surprise.

Hmm, he has a missing witness. So, not Wanda, then. Hmm again. Agent Woo contacted known associates, family, friends — none of them have ever heard of the witness. A mystery!

Oh and there's another wrinkle.

"Pardon me Sheriff, would you mind repeating your claim about Westview to my colleague here?"

"No such place," he says, standing next to the 'Welcome to Westview" sign.

Hmmm, puzzling. Jimmy Woo can't reach anybody listed as living in town. So, wait, the town doesn't exist, except it does, but, nobody thinks it does, so where did he get the phone records for residents? The phone company was just like "here's your records for the imaginary city of Westview, all 3,000+ residents that never existed, and yet we have the numbers and we're just not going to question that". Weird.

"So you can't reach anyone inside and everyone on the outside has some sort of selective amnesia?" That does seem to be the case, Monica. Super odd. Agent Woo is very sanguine about the whole thing. He dealt with Scott Lang, I guess after that everything else is like, 'meh'.

"Why haven't' you gone inside to investigate?" A fine question, Captain.

"Because it doesn't want me to." That's just creepy, Agent Woo. "You can feel it, too, can't you? Nobody's supposed to go in." I guess this is where the drone will come in handy. Oh, it's the little helicopter that Wanda found in the bushes in the second episode. I'm going to pretend that super advanced SWORD drones would totally look like cheap RC toy helicopters. I guess that's a disguise?

Monica wants to know why she and Agent Woo are aware that Westview exists and nobody else is. Does that mean the Sheriff was standing next to the Welcome to Westview sign and just did not see it at all? He was just hanging out in the middle of nowhere with a weirdly laconic FBI agent who kept asking about the town that very clearly wasn't just right behind them? That's a little more than amnesia.

Also, Agent Woo's hero was Elliot Ness. Of course it was.

Oh no, the drone vanished as it crossed the town line! There's an energy field around the town that looks like what happens when you push your fingers against an old monitor and get the weird pixelly rainbow. Agent Woo's all "please no touch" and Monica's all "yes, I think I'll stick my whole hand in there." And she got sucked in. Agent Woo's gotta be like "WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY EVER LISTEN TO ME?"

24 hours later. Darcy! Some sort of transport van. A trio of other suits in the back, plus Darcy. She tries to talk to one of the dudes and he's all "we're not supposed to talk to each other!" "Boy Scout leader, got it." Relax, uptight guy. Pfft, what sort of team is that? The rest give up their specialty. Aww, bless, she went into astrophysics. "We've got the full clown car." heh.

Boy Scout leader finally caving to peer pressure: "I'm a chemical engineer." Darcy: "No one cares." lol. Missed you, girlfriend!

And in 24 hours SWORD/FBI whoever have set up a little military camp. Oh a "response base". How banally euphemistic. There's like a whole bunch of agencies there, as well as Army and Air Force.

Dr. Lewis. Oh, I'm so proud. I bet Jane was over the moon. Saved from poli-sci!

Elsewhere another drone vanishes. Darcy darcys a lot at an uptight uniform who is breathing down her neck "make your assessment" and it's delightful. Darcy notices some high levels of cosmic background radiation and also something weird layered over the top of that. Hmm, she needs a tv. "An old one, like not flat." One with vacuum tubes, perhaps?

In another part of the camp, they send in a guy in a hazmat suit, down into the sewers, looking for Monica. I guess he'll be the beekeper Wanda tosses in ep 2. Jimmy Woo is not optimistic about that plan. He tells the SWORD Director all about it.

"Someone must really miss you back at Quantico." "No, sir, softball season is over." Lol.

All their high tech scanning is turning up nothing.

Uhoh, screaming. Oh, nevermind, it's the laughtrack. While everybody else was dicking around with the LIDAR, Darcy has tracked down the last tube tv in New Jersey and has tuned into the Wanda Dimension. Episode one is playing.

Darcy is understandably particularly baffled by Vision. "Look, I know it's been a crazy few years on this planet, but he's dead right? Not blipped. Dead." Poor Vision. Alas.

Director wants to know if the broadcast is realtime or a recording. Or what? Darcy's like "how tf should I know?"

Jimmy asks the good question "So you're saying the universe created a sitcom staring two Avengers?" "It's a working theory."

Now SWORD fans out! And collects every ye olde TV on the eastern seaboard. Who doesn't love a good sitcom, amiright? (Me. Me do not love sitcoms). The Director storms off to wherever for whatever reason. I don't know, don't care. Jimmy and Darcy are on the case.

Darcy is IDing the other "characters" in the sitcom, who appear to be real people with NJ driver's liscenses, while Jimmy is wondering why the force field is hexagonal. You've got me there. And now we're montaging.

Jimmy ponders the big board of 'characters' and Darcy drops her cup o' noodles when she spots Monica in the second episode. He and Darcy discuss and he's like "is it an alternate reality, time travel, some cockamamie social experiment?" Darcy's all "it's a sitcom." A pure mystery.

Darcy comes up with the idea to reach out to Wanda via the radio in her kitchen. "Next time she's washing dishes — which by my count happens about once an episode, barf." heh. She tech babbles some and I'm very proud.

A minion agent runs up with the latest intel from the most recent episode, it's a picture of the SWORD drone that looks more retro (frankly it looks better than the 'real world' one.) Hmmm, such a puzzler. Why did it change, they wonder.

Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo are a partnership I can totally get behind. Jimmy was the voice trying to reach Wanda. Darcy's watching the show while Jimmy's trying the radio thing. It's the second episode where Wanda's talking to Emma Caulfield and things go weird. Good. I'm glad they jumped us to the outside world by ep four. While I thought the first two eps were slow, I think maybe they'll work better once we can watch the whole thing at a go.

Dude is still crawling through the sewers. I completely forgot he was down there. And the field extends below ground and he just crawled through it and became a beekeeper, and his safety rope snapped and … became a jumprope?

And then Wanda wishes him to the cornfield. (I guess? We don't see what happens to him.)

SWORD is watching episode three.

"1950s, 1960s, and now 70s. Why does it keep switching time periods. It can't be purely for my enjoyment can it?" Guys, it's so good to see Darcy. "I can't believe Wanda and Vision are having a baby." No really, Jimmy and Darcy, BFFS 4EVAH! They're eating chips and watching the episode. Delightful. Just delightful.

"Twins. What a twist." Jimmy gives Darcy a look. "I'm invested!"

Monica mentions Ultron and Jimmy and Darcy are like "Whoa!".

They notice the screen sort of glitches and then Monica is gone and it's the end credits. Like when Bee guy vanished. Darcy and Jimmy are confused. "Someone is censoring the broadcast." Yeah, Wanda. She's gone to the scary place, friends.

Alarms go off and they run off. But, we go into Wanda World the aspect ratio changes from 4:3 to 16:9 and it's a new angle on when Wanda went all scary at Monica, demanding to know who she is. And then, of course, she gets kicked out of Wanda World.

"Wanda, I'm just your neighbor." "Then how could you know about Ultron?"

Wanda brings up the glowy hands of scary. "You are a stranger and an outsider and right now you are trespassing here. And I want you to leave." And then she zooms Monica out through the walls and fences and fields and that looked like it probably hurt.

Oh gross. Wanda turns around and sees Dead Vision. The big hole in his head and his face all, you know, dead looking. She looks away and then he's normal when she looks back. Well, now this has turned all sad, you guys. "We can go wherever we want." "No, we can't." Sad. Poor Wanda. The aspect ratio goes back to 4:3. I’m sure Editorial was like “oh god, again?”

"Don't worry darling, I have everything under control."

I don't think so, Wanda.

Good ep! My only real takeaway is that none of this is going to end particularly happily.

So … Darcy and Jimmy, BFFS 4EVAH!

#wandavision #wandavision spoilers #darcy lewis #jimmy woo #wandavision liveblog

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iridescentmemoria · 3 years

Note

Every even number for Inky asks please! <3 and tell me their name and looks!!!

Pfhew! that was a lot of them! but i'm super happy i received this ask! i've been aching to talk about my inquisitor to someone <3 My main inquisitor would be Brenna Lavellan, She's a Dalish mage, pale skin with a dark green vallaslin. She has black hair, long, long enough to have to braid it and pull it into a bun behind her head. She wears several dreads too, with jewelry in them, but alas there's no mod for that. ( i use the mod dreads of the wolf on her ) She carries on her left cheek a scar that cuts through her face and onto her ear, she got it in a fight with a shemlen who'd tried to light their aravels on fire in the woods one night when she was only a youngster.

2 - How did they decorate and structure skyhold?

She decorates it with various trophies from their adventures through thedas, but the heraldry is mostly a mix between the inquisition and the dalish + elven designs. Some ferelden dogs, and an Avvar throne. 4. What are their views of the Chantry?

Fuck the chantry. That's basically her attitude. She understands faith is important to the people of thedas, they need hope, but the chantry is an outdated, cruel institution that practices nothing that they preach. 6. Who did they romance and why?

Solas. She fell for him quickly, his wit and charm and endless stories of the fade and the ancient elvhen empire. she loves him, with whole her heart. Where usually she would be wary of strangers, solas was one of the exceptions. She felt an instant connection with him and it didn't take long before he skillfully broke down her walls and made her fall deeply in love with him.

14. Who is their favourite and most trusted adviser?

If we're talking only the advisers she adores leliana, they cultivated a strong friendship. If we're talking the entire inner circle, that would be dorian, solas, cassandra and cole. 16. How do they react to the corruption of the Wardens? Why? She is apalled by their actions. For an institution to fall so low and resort to tying themselves to demons.. it was just too much. She banishes them from orlais. 18. Do they enjoy Wicked Grace, or don’t they? Not only does she enjoy it, she is also good at it and loves to challenge everyone in skyhold for a game or two. 20. Do they trust Morrigan? Trust? No. She's smart enough to realize Morrigan is in it for her own gain. She respects her and her magical abilities and likes to converse with her ( when she's not bragging about all the knowledge she supposedly possesses about elves and their heritage ) But she doesn't trust her. Morrigan is power hungry, and their debate at the well of sorrows shows that clearly enough. 22. What is their biggest regret?

Ironically, Not realizing Solas wasn't who he said he was. If she'd figured it out sooner, she might've been able to change his mind.. 24. How did they react when they found out about Blackwall/Thom Rainier?

Oof. Yeah that was a big reveal there. She had some suspicions about blackwall but would never have thought him to be a murderer. She pardoned him. But remains distant. Despite their friendship. 26. What makes them trust someone?

Seeing them standing up for what they think is right, standing up for people who cannot defend themselves. And those who do good deeds without wanting anything in return. 28. Did they disband the Inquisition or maintain it?

It was a tough decision. The inquisition was her everything, but seeing the state of thedas and knowing the truth now, that the entire organisation was infiltrated with spies and reeking of corruption... She disbanded it. She was angry and upset, but determined to work towards saving solas from himself. It would be easier with a tight knit group that doesn't involve all the politics and discussions in the winter palace. She also gladly went to kirkwall to live there after varric offered it to her. 30. How did they judge the prisoners? Alexius, Servis and so on. Specific a character.

Alexius was made to serve the inquisition, in researching arcana. But he will not be gaining his freedom. Servis was made to smuggle artefacts. Florianne was killed, and her box was used for community service. Livius Erimond was executed. Ser ruth was sent to the deep roads to achieve what she wanted. Samson was remanded to Kirkwall for judgement of his crimes, though if she was given the chance she would have executed him for all he did. 32. Who did they leave in the Fade, and why?

Stroud. To her it seemed the more logical solution at the time. besides, she loves varric dearly and couldn't take his best friend from him. 34. How do they cope with the stress of being Inquisitor?

Powering through. Trying her best to maintain her sanity by taking breaks on her own when she can. Also elfroot. A lot of it. 36. What was the most difficult choice that had to make?

Whether to disband the inquisition or not.

38. Emotionally, what was their reaction at Sahrina Quarry? The realisation made her nauseous to her core, the poor people there didn't deserve all that and she wishes she could have helped them sooner.

40. Do they get Cullen to start taking lyrium again? Why or why not?

Absolutely not. She supports his decision and provides him with counsel and comfort when he needs it. They are devoted friends, And seeing him overcome his addiction makes her proud. She trusts in him, she knows he can continue his work without the lyrium.

42. How do they view Tevinter? Oof. Yeah.. well considering she is an elf, she doesn't much like the place at all. The only good thing to come out of it is Dorian, who she loves dearly.

44. How do they think their race plays into being Inquisitor? It definitely does. A whole big deal. She is a dalish standing for all peoples. No matter their origin. She is the proof that everyone is worthy of respect. And she openly wants to use her power to advance the elves. 46. Which companion/adviser makes them think twice about their choices, if any?

Dorian. His voice is one of reason and she takes his counsel constantly. Also they have fun little outings that involve a lot of vintage wine and gossip. All the advisors are important to her, she listens carefully to josie cullen and leliana. Also cassandra. And cole. I think the only one she doesn't listen to is viv. ;) 48. What do they think about the Hero of Ferelden?

She doesn't know much about the hero of ferelden. Before the inquisition she kept to the clan and their worries, but she reads up on their story later in the library and finds herself feeling some level of connection to them, they both stand for something better after all. 50. Are they proud of what they accomplished? Yes. Despite everything. She feels like being a part of this whole inquisition took a lot from her, almost everything, but she is proud of what she has accomplished and the changes she's made to the world. Bonus! here's some pics of Brenna for the long wait!

#oc lavellan #ask game #ask game response #dai #dragon age inquisition funny #solas dragon age #dragon age: inquisition #da:i #solavellan #solas #fen harel #trespasser #the descent #solas x inquisitor #solas x lavellan #dorian pavus #varric tethras #da4

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getbacktoworknovice · 4 years

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🧣Pregnancy H.C’s; Aizawa

(full disclosure, Aizawa is my favorite so I may have gotten a bit carried away xD thank you in advance for dealing with my thirsty ass)

Aizawa is extremely overprotective and honestly, it doesn't seem like he’s all that excited at first and he seems more stressed than anything but he just assures you that he wants to keep you safe and will one hundred percent go to every class, doctors appointment and read any book he can on the subject to help you out. Like seriously, he’s calling or texting every few minutes at first because he’s worried not being with you. Eventually, he has to restrain himself and trust that you can handle things on your own sometimes and you don't need a hero with you every five minutes. Though Present Mic doesn't mind helping~ “You’re carrying my best friends baby! I call dibs on greatest uncle!” Class 1-A is shocked to hear the news of you being pregnant and being the sweet kids they are they, of course, do thoughtful things for you! Some come to visit, some cook or clean for you and others help with errands and chores in your later terms since Aizawa is busy with his teaching duties. But his mind is on you the entire time “Don't forget your homework due tomorrow, keep training in your quirk usage oh, and Iida, Deku, Urakaka? Go make sure y/n is comfortable.” It's literally assigned homework at this point. You’d move into the dorms towards the more difficult parts of your pregnancy so Aizawa can be close to you and of course, the kids are happy to help out! You could teach them your recipes and mother the heck out of all of them~ Even Bakugo likes you! At night after everything settles down and he makes sure your comfortable he’ll settle in with you for a much-needed cuddle session and to be honest, sometimes you have to force him because he’s so busy bending over backward for you and the class and his job that it's overwhelming but he just buries it and forgets to care for himself but your more than happy to have him with you and you always thank him for everything he does. He’s always thinking about you and your baby and you know once the babies born he has them as his phone wallpaper. You can't convince me he doesn't

His first reaction to his baby that's...a perfect human being...

After the pregnancy, Aizawa hovers. He trusts you completely with the baby of course but he’s there at the drop of a hat if you need him, sometimes even leaving class. Especially when his baby gets a fever and he drops everything and rushes to the hospital to be with them. (It's ok, we all know All Might will take over). Once he gets the hang of it it becomes easier to balance his domestic life with you and being a hero as well as a teacher at UA. There are plenty of sleepless nights and rough mornings but he wouldn't change it for anything. Especially when their tiny hands reach up for him demanding to be held or in need of attention. Aizawa rarely smiles but his truest and most genuine are when he holds his child and interacts with them. Aizawa tries to be as active as he can in his child’s life, even bringing them into class on some days when you have to work and shows them everything daddy has to do during the day while he’s away. The child is a hit in the teacher’s lounge, several teachers and pro heroes cooing at the small bundle while Aizawa answers emails and does paperwork. You’re never wanting for babysitters as the entire Class of 1-A LOVES Aizawa Sensei’s kid day! They love interacting with them and getting to show off let’s be honest and several of the more responsible ones like Iida and Momo are the ones who get to babysit. Not Deku, don't you dare let them go on any “adventures” with him, I don't care if it's just to the convenience store, that problem child gives me enough trouble already… but it's all in a good-natured way, and come on now, we all know Deku will get his chance to babysit and it’ll probably be one zany adventure.

As the child grows Aizawa becomes more involved, especially if they join a school sport or after school club or activity. He encourages them to go for what they really want and tells them that their happiness is what matters most. Even if you want to flip burgers for a living Aizawa is a very supportive father but is always sensible in the way he does things. They want money for a new gadget? All right, do good on their chores and make sure their schoolwork is pristine and their allowance may go up a bit. They want to go out with friends to a movie? He’ll give them some money for it but just remember to answer the phone if he calls and stay safe, don't answer his first call they won’t be getting an allowance from him for a month. Those are the rules. Aizawa believes in hard work, especially if you want something, you should work hard for it. Plus let’s be honest, if they tried sneaking out or getting into trouble Aizawa would be all over them, scarves out and an angry look on his face to boot. Of course, this is his kid we’re talking about so he may take it easier on them, it just depends on the offense. Sometimes he might be tougher.

If the child is quirkless Aizawa is much more protective. After all, his child is basically defenseless in a world full of super-people so he has to be more careful than usual. Especially when they're small. He carries them more than he probably should and is always hovering, even when they go to school, watching over them and chasing away any would-be bullies. He’s a bit more hesitant about bringing them to the school, especially with all the trouble they seem to draw but he has to learn throughout fatherhood that it's ok to let go a little and let them be who they are. Quirk or not, he loves them and they deserve to have a normal and happy childhood.

If the child develops a quirk especially one like his, Aizawa won’t ever show it but he is over the moon. So excited like whats an appropriate age to start training my child...He googled it. You’re going to have to talk to him about that. Of course when the time is right and when they show an interest he will gladly train them but his training isnt for the faint of heart so he may be a bit rough at first. Until you see your child with a bloody nose and you have to have a talk with him. His training becomes less severe after that and he learns to balance training and childhood well, taking them out for ice cream on the same day as training them how to be soundless in their steps, or taking them to a festival while also teaching them how to observe people and behaviors. He’s a bit serious as a father but there’s always a moment where they just look at each other and smile just glad to have the other in their life~

#aizawa #aizawa x reader #eraserhead #eraserhead x reader #bnha imagines #bnha #my hero academia #aizawa my hero academia #aizawa shouta #shouta aizawa

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scottymcgeesterwrites · 3 years

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Final Fantasy IV Review

Year: 1991

Original Platform: Super Nintendo (Originally introduced to Western audiences as Final Fantasy II, since the real II and III were not released outside of Japan at the time.)

Also available on: Nintendo DS, PSP (Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection), GameBoy Advance, Playstation One (Final Fantasy Chronicles), Steam (DS remake)

Version I Played: PSP

Synopsis:

Cecil Harvey is Batman a dark knight who follows orders from King Baron. The king tasks Cecil and his partner Kain with taking the crystals from the surrounding nations and cities. Cecil questions his king’s motives, leading to the revelation of a grand conspiracy. Cecil then goes on a quest to right his wrongs.

Gameplay:

The novel feature of this game was the ATB system – Active Timed Battle. This means that instead of you and the enemy waiting for your respective turns one at a time, each character takes their turn according their respective speed. One character may be slower than the other, so they will take longer to be able to perform an action. Basically, with ATB, if you wait too long to think about what to do on your turn, the enemy can hit you - JUST AS IF YOU WERE REALLY BATTLING IN REAL LIFE.

While Final Fantasy IV introduced ATB, it did not utilize the ATB gauge in actual battles. The ATB gauge is a visual bar during battle that shows your character’s speed. Whenever it’s filled, your character can perform an action. The gauge itself was first seen later in Final Fantasy V. Later remakes of Final Fantasy IV displayed the ATB gauge. Some configuration options were introduced later to give you the ability to change the battle system to active or wait. Putting it on wait would allow the timed battle to pause while you thought about what to do during your move.

Final Fantasy IV forsakes the customizable Job System and introduces characters with individual jobs. Kain is a dragoon, who can jump in the air and deal destructive damage. Rydia is a summoner. Yang is a monk. Etc, etc.

The Super Nintendo and PSP versions are more or less on par with each other in terms of difficulty. The Nintendo DS remake is really hard. Like REALLY hard. Like “throw-your-DS-across-the-room hard”. I myself have had trouble finishing it.

Graphics:

I haven’t played the original SNES version of Final Fantasy IV, but judging by the images it appears to be in this liminal state between NES and SNES. Not quite NES but not quite utilizing the full power of the SNES either.

The PSP version is somewhat reminiscent of the Anniversary Editions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, but it still has its own flair that outshines them.

Final Fantasy IV DS is pretty much a 3D remake in the same vein as Final Fantasy III DS, with an awesome opening FMV. The in-game cutscenes however now have VOICE ACTING.

Now, the PlayStation One version has a FMV sequence that hasn’t aged well at all. We’re talking worse than the Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II FMV sequences from PlayStation One. I can’t even find a good snapshot from Google Images, probably because nobody wants to look at them ever again. You can find it on YouTube though.

Story:

Final Fantasy IV is well known for being the first GOOD story in a Final Fantasy game. Cecil’s personal journey of redemption rung in the minds and hearts of audiences. There’s a nice balance of focusing on individual struggles and an epic adventure to save the world.

The cast of characters is pretty wide. Like Final Fantasy II, several secondary characters come and go. There is one difference but I don’t want to spoil anything. I guess the least I could say is that Final Fantasy IV subverts what to expect after having played Final Fantasy II.

Like Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV includes crystals as an important plot device. This time they hold enormous power that the villain Golbez wishes to obtain for nefarious means.

While the story is infinitely superior in storytelling to Final Fantasy II, there are still some silly moments. I could best describe the bulk of the story as “Cecil and friends are on a race to capture each crystal around the world but something always gets in the way at the last minute.” While for the most part the story is done well, there are seemingly cartoonish moments involving random trapdoors and bewitched dolls. One particular moment I found myself thinking, "So you're just going to stand there while he does that?"

But I think the most admirable part of the story is how they approach Cecil and Rosa’s romance. While most RPGs, especially today, try to hash in a childish romance subplot, Cecil and Rosa are that rare couple that are already together at the beginning of the game. Their love is tested throughout the story.

The most popular quote from this game involves a complicated matter of translation. Western releases of Final Fantasy games (and Japanese games in general) often had awkward translations. “You spoony bard!” is one such awkward translation that originates from this game.

The character who spoke this line, Tellah, is arguing with the character Edward. The translation came out at “spoony” due to the Japanese writers believing it was still used today in English. It’s an archaic term meaning “enamored in a silly or sentimental way”. It technically fits, but clearly, nobody uses that word anymore, and players laughed at how nonsensical it seemed.

While I don’t want to spoil why Tellah is angry at Edward, the scenario in question is dramatic, and so Tellah saying “idiot” or “moron” wouldn’t quite suffice. The original Japanese word that Tellah uses is “kisama”, which in the given context is akin to telling someone they are a “son of a bitch” or “bastard.” Western releases, especially North American, were very often censored and demanded less or no profanity.

Overall, Final Fantasy IV is the first notable story in the Final Fantasy series, way better and much more original than Final Fantasy II.

Music:

With the Super Nintendo, Uematsu was able to play with more sounds. The drumming that Uematsu had wanted in his battle themes is more apparent. He also added an accompaniment to the Prelude. The main theme of Final Fantasy IV is scattered throughout the score, just like a motif in a movie score. The main theme is the map theme, and I like how, for example, the theme changes to a different beat when you venture into the underworld. The main theme even pops up in the final battle, which to me is awesome because it illustrates the heroes collectively trying to banish evil.

In one interview with Uematsu, he stated he was a huge fan of Elton John. For some reason, after I read that, I totally see the main theme of Final Fantasy IV having an Elton John vibe, especially in the epilogue with the drums and the bass.

Red Wings, which is the theme for Baron’s elite air force of the same name, is notable for its unorthodox time signature. I swore I read that somewhere years ago but now I can’t find it, so if someone happens to come across it – let me know. The theme for the Red Wings sounds both heroic and sinister, referencing Baron’s underlying motives and Cecil’s dual nature.

Cecil and Rosa’s love theme is actually taught for schoolchildren in Japan as part of their music curriculum.

Uematsu pretty much matured at this point, in my opinion.

Notable Theme:

There are so many but my personal favorite is “Dreadful Fight”, a.k.a “Battle with the Four Fiends”.

youtube

I’ll also highlight the “Theme of Love”, because it needs to be out there as the first love theme for the Final Fantasy series.

youtube

Verdict:

Hands down, the perfect place for a beginner. You want to start getting into Final Fantasy? Start with Final Fantasy IV. The gameplay is easy to pick up. The story is simple and straightforward compared to the rest of the series but still effective. To those having played the later games first, it could seem trite. Unlike most of the Final Fantasy games, the different re-releases can be quite offer a different experience due to the translations, graphical changes, and differences in difficulty. At the end of the day, I would say any 2D version is fine, the best is probably the PSP version, but save the DS remake for later, since it is more difficult.

Direct Sequel?

Yes. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection was released on the PSP in 2011. This is the version that I played. Square created two sequels for that collection: Final Fantasy IV: Interlude and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. I haven’t played them myself yet, but there is criticism surrounding their stories, which apparently pale greatly in comparison to Final Fantasy IV.

By the way, the PSP version starts by showing the new FMV opening to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, not the one shown in Final Fantasy IV DS. That’s a minor change but it really irked me, because the sequel’s FMV opening therefore spoils some of the story if you never played it before. I guess they wanted to distance themselves from Final Fantasy IV DS. Even so, why not just play that opening when you select The After Years?

#final fantasy #final fantasy iv #cecil harvey #rosa farrell #nobuo uematsu #square enix #onvideogames #video games #rpg #video game rpg #fantasy

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doubleshotofsomething · 3 years

Text

Come Into My Life

Part one Part two ---

Song Prompt: “Entra en mi vida” by Sin Bandera

Warnings: swearing. That’s it.

Author’s Note: so technology is finally cooperating with me. the remaining two parts will be out by midnight. which is in like...two hours here.

Summary: If the Horse won’t drink the koolaid. Then the Koolaid will drink the horse

“You seem to think this is something you can hide from.”

Part Three: Quiero que seas dueña de mi corazón

So...

Apparently...

The mountain decided to move out and stalk Muhammed.

Because, on your living room couch, sat the golden haired, blue eyed, mammoth of your self-proclaimed safety precaution.

"I hope you don't mind," Thor grins, hands stretched on the back of the couch. "I let myself in."

You blink at him. Once. Twice. Because, what the fuck?

"I used that bedroom window that you keep leaving unlocked."

You were on the penthouse floor of your apartment building. It was once owned by some millionaire that had trust issues when it came to banks, so their home security rivaled that of any Stark Industries offices. But then again, Stark Industries did create that security system.

So, you left your bedroom window unlocked. Because, unlike a certain ice capsule that slept through decades of technological advancements, you knew what a parachute looked like. You know, incase you needed to use a window on the top floor as an escape.

"I'm gonna pretend like I didn't just walk into my place, just to find you lounging around on my favourite couch, like you own the place--" You begin as you kick off your shoes. "--and then, I'm going to completely ignore the fact that your glorified knife is chilling on my coffee table, as if it contributed money when I was buying it. And then--"

"You're going to ignore my presence and hope I go away?" He cuts in, grin widening.

You glare. "You're a bad hair day on a work day piled up with meetings."

The grin falls off instantly and the purest look of confusion replaces it on his face. "Huh?"

"Get out of my house, Thunder Lord. I have super hero things to do." You sigh, taking off your coat and neatly folding it against the back of the chair.

You head into the kitchen, having expected him to be gone already, only to find him leaning against your fridge. Arms crossed and completely unmoving, Thor flashes you a grin.

"So--"

"--I said leave."

"I heard you," he nods. "Considered it for a moment, truly. But then, I recalled every attempt on your life since this world found out about you. I have to tell you, I had half a mind to take you away from this realm. Somewhere safer--"

He must have fallen and bumped his head, you're sure of it.

"--but this is your home. This is where you want to be and I could never hurt you like that. So, here I am." His grin widens, as if this is something to be proud of. "Your personal ironman suit. Here to stay, until all threats against you have been executed."

You narrow your eyes at him. "You mean eliminated."

He stares back. "No, executed. With an axe. Against the neck. Then they're head placed next to the external flame, or a spike, or hung on the walls of the living room--" he glances in the direction of said room. "--it could really use some colour."

"Hang on--" you blink. "--I think you're doing that thing again where you're telling me how to live my life and I tuned out. So, I might not have heard you correctly."

Sighing, Thor moves away from the fridge to stand in front of you. He gently cups your face in both hands, watching as your eyes widen -- because what the fuck? -- and gives you a gentle smile.

He knows you're not ready to hear what he has to say. He knows he can't force it all on you like this. But he can't sleep at night, not knowing if you actually made it to bed in one piece. And he can't always be there, watching over you, all the time. He'd love to, but he has work to do.

So, he chooses to grab the bull that you are by the horns. He chooses flight, over fight.

"I can have SHIELD agents following you, shadowing you, monitoring you every second of every day--" his thumb gently brushes your cheek. "--you know I can do it. You know there is nothing you can do to stop it. Or, you can accept the fact that I am your current security detail until further notice."

You must have had too much caffeine, because your heart just did a weird tap dance.

"Does Sam know about this?" You take a few steps back and push his hands away.

Thor chooses to ignore the way his chest tightened with those actions. "He said you're going to murder me in my sleep."

"Oh, so he was kind enough to warn you."

You had been expecting it.

The thought of an Avenger suddenly escorting you every where, or tailing you, had been something that crossed your mind. You knew, at some point, that Sam would get tired of your choice in security protocols.

You knew that Fury would consider you too much of a risk, to let you remain unsupervised. You were also aware of the fact that this 'deal' was his way of keeping an eye on the management of the company. The man didn't trust anyone, not even you. Not that you could blame him, it's not like you trusted him either.

So you kept all the assassination attempts, and occasional hostile take-overs, hidden. Even with Sam and Hope personally overseeing all security updates done at your home, you still managed to keep the death threats, attempts, that pressure plate bomb that found its way beneath your mattress, and the kidnapping attempts hidden.

If there was one thing you were Avenger-level good at, it was hiding things.

Not even Thor knew about all of them. And you were well aware of how hard that would be, considering how stalkery he has been since he witnessed you accidently hold that axe.

You expected this. Really, you did. What you didn’t expect, was him.

Thor. Odinson. God of Thunder. Pain in your ass. Bane of your existence. The bad side of all your jokes and jabs. That Thor, was the one assigned as your security detail.

“No, no-- Sam, you’re not listening.” You were late for a meeting, because the only hairdryer in your apartment had been considered a safety risk and was tossed out your bedroom window, and then struck -- midair -- by a lightning bolt.

“Sam, you asshole, listen. This idiot had the audacity to move himself into my apartment, make me take the stairs, invade all my meetings, rearrange my furniture--” your anger was getting stronger and stronger with everything you listed. “--he sits on my favourite couch, Sam. My couch. You know how hard it was for me to get that couch. You know--”

“I’m sure he’s just looking out for you--”

“The stairs! Sam, he is making me take the stairs!”

“I offered to carry you--” Thor adds from beside you. Unlike your practically-a-sprint jogging pace, your glorified Jarvis is casually strolling beside you, as you rush up the staircase to your office.

You choose to ignore him. “Give Bucky the phone. I wanna talk to him--”

“Y/N--”

“I just wanna apologise to him. Is that so wrong? I just want him to know that I’m sorry I used his arm to crack open his tub of ice cream. I just wanna tell him that I miss him and I’m ready to be the woman he needs--”

“I am not swapping Thor with Bucky.”

“But we’re in love!”

Thor scoffs, opening the door for you.”You don’t even know what that word means.”

You don’t get to hear what Sam says. Because you’re hurling your phone at Thor before you even realise it and, just like your hairdryer, a lightning bolt slices it apart before it reaches its target.

He sighs. “We need to work on your aim.”

Tags: @nekoannie-chan, @thorfanficwriter

#annie's500kittieswritingchallenge #annie's1stwritingchallenge #thor #thor x reader #thor fluff #thor fanfic #thor x you #avengers x reader #reader insert #x reader #x you #mcu #marvel writing challenge #thor masterlist #part3 #sam wilson #ghost

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the-final-sif · 4 years

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Actually, now that I’ve talked about my headcanon that Katsuki was kidnapped several times as a child, let me talk about a complete random scene/story arc inspired by that and the fact that Katsuki + Izuku + Shouto are all interning with Endeavor now.

Overhaul breaks out of jail and gets his arms back somehow. He’s gone quite a bit nuts. A lot nuts. He’s surpassed ‘focused villain trying to do one thing that he sees as right’ to more of a ‘just want to watch the world burn’. To that end, he sets about getting a team together to catch a certain group of meddling heroes, and to rekidnap a certain child.

A second hideout raid of sorts is planned and goes down, only this time, it was a trap. Izuku/Shouto/Endeavor/Hawks/Kirishima/Tamaki/Fatgum/Tsuyu/Ryuko/Ochako were on the raid team and were caught. Aizawa who was watching over Eri while she had a playdate with Tsuyu’s younger sister, Satsuki, are all also captured. Overhaul had a very specific team set up, knew about them in advance and planned out counters for each person. Alongside that, he used his quirk to create a giant beast like robot that’s made of metal able to withstand even Deku’s punches and Shouto/Endeavor’s flames. Said robot is roughly modeled/made to take on the LOV’s nomu, but non-organic. Notably, Katsuki wasn’t on the hideout raid team (or aware of the raid), because he had a Obligatory Family Trip planned on the same day and so wasn’t at the internship then.

Izuku had managed to put in a distress call before he was taken down, but all the heroes + victims were moved to a different location afterwards in an old long abandoned hideout in the middle of the woods, and there’s about no chance of anyone tracking them down any time soon.

So that leads us into the main scene. The heroes are all captured/restrained up near Overhaul whose ranting on about using Eri to destroy the world/destroy quirks once and for all and then rule over it with a robotic army which is the only thing he considers “clean” anymore. Meanwhile, Eri and Satsuki are down in a different location in a cell of their own (to prevent the heroes from comforting the children), and there’s a camera system in place so the heroes can see the helpless children.

Overhaul demands Eri be brought to whatever Evil Machine he’s devised, and one of his goons goes to get her, but Satsuki fights back against the goon and actually does a pretty damn good job of it. Which leads to Overhaul demanding that the goon kill her.

There’s nothing any of the heroes can do. Satsuki fights back as best she can, as does Eri, but they’re both only 6 years old and Eri’s quirk isn’t working. They struggle, but it’s looking hopeless, and Aizawa tries to tell Tsuyu to close her eyes because he knows what’s about to happen next.

And then the entire dungeon the two girls are in shatters.

Everything is chaos for the next minute as Overhaul tries to figure out what the hell just happened, getting his cameras back in order until finally he gets a visual and contact with one of his goons just before they get taken down and it’s Katsuki.

He’s in a flannel, regular pants and his combat gloves, very clearly confused/pissed off/not prepared for whatever the hell is going on here, and it takes them awhile to figure out what’s going on.

As it turns out, Katsuki has been hiking a trail near this hideout since he was 4 years old. His family drags him up to a nearby location to visit some extended family, he has 0 interest in doing that, so he goes and hikes/camps along a trial instead. Every year he hikes this fairly long trail, and every year he sees this weird abandoned building that he’s gone to explore a few times, and every year the first thought in his mind is ‘Man, that place looks exactly like a villain hideout’.

Then this year, he comes up on it, minding his own business with his headphones in, and he sees the building active again with people with weird masks running around in it, and he’s got a super bad feeling in his gut that just slams into him and he goes ‘Alright, fuck it.’

So now Katsuki is here, he grabs the kids and gets them to a semi-safe location, getting info from them and trying to understand what’s going on. Once he gets it, this turns into a game of him keeping the kids safe from Overhaul, taking down his goons as he goes and working his way towards where the other heroes are. Only, we’re going with the aforementioned headcanon that Katsuki has been kidnapped a bunch of times as a child and never realized that wasn’t normal. This leads to the heroes watching him on the cameras with an increasingly pissed off Overhaul as he walks the two children through how deal with being kidnapped as if these are normal everyday life skills.

Overhaul really, really wants him dead, but unfortunately his team was handpicked to counter the heroes who he’s already captured, and he wasn’t counting on Katsuki showing up. Katsuki’s quirk is flexible and very destructive + Katsuki’s combat skills means he’s pretty much a worst case scenario for Overhaul. Even worse, Katsuki successfully took down the com lines so there’s no communication through the scattered goons, and Katsuki played in this abandoned hideout as a child so he knows his way around it.

Ideal things happening during all of this:

Aizawa torn between being overjoyed that Katsuki saved Eri and then horrified/so done with this child as he walks Eri and Satsuki through how to use knives and grenades.

Katsuki being confused that neither Eri nor Satsuki know how to use a knife.

“Okay, did I have a weird childhood or did you two have a weird childhood. I can’t tell.”

Katsuki gives both children knives, and gives Eri a second knife when she loses her first one (and by loses I mean it ends up embedded in a bad guy’s shoulder)

Izuku keeps pulling notebooks and pencils out of seemingly thin air since Katsuki is openly discussing his quirk/aspects of it with the kids as they make their way through the base and by god he needs to write it down. Overhaul keeps taking his notebooks/pencils but the moment he looks away Izuku somehow has another set.

Katsuki keeps mentioning offhandly things from his childhood and the more things he mentions the more all the other heroes are like “????????”

Finally, Overhaul realizes there’s no chance of his guys taking down Katsuki as Katsuki finishes off the last or second to last one, and so he unleashes The Robot.

By this point, Katsuki already called for backup, but it’s at least half and hour out. He sees the robot and he’s like “Ah fuck.”. Eri and Satsuki already told him a little bit about it and particularly that it’s built to withstand anything short of a nuclear weapon. Not to mention it’s decently fast/agile.

And then when Eri is hurriedly relaying all this to Katsuki, she mentions that Overhaul built it himself.

Katsuki: “Wait like, he actually designed and built it. Overhaul’s the guy with the weird purity/evolution obsession right? He made this? Not somebody smarter?”

She confirms and Katsuki is suddenly No Longer Worried: “Okay, you two chill here, I got this.”

So then he goes to fight the weird beast robot, and nobody’s really sure what he’s planning. As he starts fighting it, he seems to be blasting it’s head into stuff a lot/slamming it around, but that’s not doing any actual damage, right?

Wrong.

See, Overhaul’s somewhat of a moron who put all of the robot’s processing/”brain” into the head area, because that’s how things are supposed to be in his mind. Katsuki figured the guy would probably pull something like this, and so he gives the robot a bunch of repeated strikes to the head area/knocking it around. Because even if the outside is super tough, that kinetic energy still travels through and can do damage to delicate circuit boards.

In layman’s terms, he gives the robot a series of minor concussions until it adds up.

The robot starts to malfunction, going somewhat rouge/pausing/getting stuck places/etc. But it’s still not destroyed and the heroes aren’t sure what Katsuki’s planning next. Katsuki is quite sure of what he’s planning next though. He lures the robot outside and then traps it in place with some large rocks or some rope or something. It’s not going to hold it for very long, but it’s enough to keep the weakened robot in place.

Then he takes aim with one arm as if he was doing an AP shot.

Everyone (heroes and Overhaul included) are kinda like ‘okay what the heck’ because even Katsuki’s strong blasts aren’t enough to really damage the robot’s exterior. Why would trapping it change that?

Then blue starts to spread up Katsuki’s arm along his veins, his hand starts to crackle and there’s 1-2 seconds of “wait WHAT” before Katsuki unleashes a blast on par with that of a small nuclear weapon. The explosion is bright blue, narrowed down to a fine point like Katsuki’s regular AP spot, but once it hits it’s target, it explodes outwards disintegrating the robot and taking out a good chunk of the surrounding land. The whole hideout is shaken to it’s foundation. Windows shatter, some cameras crack, and when the dust clears, Katsuki’s standing tall.

His left arm is still covered by that spiderweb blue though, and it’s hanging limply at his side.

Okay, so this is 90% me making up science but shhhh

So as the heroes quickly learn as an exhausted/barely on his feet Katsuki stumbles back to the kids who of course have questions, this is apparently something Katsuki has been able to do since he was 6.

He calls it “Blue Core”, and it makes his explosions super powerful by pulling nitrogen from the rest of his arm/blood stream/flesh and stocking it all up.

However, he basically never uses it because it comes at a really high cost, namely it takes several seconds of charging, does a ton of collateral damage, and by using it it takes whichever arm he used out of commission for at least the next 24 hours. He can still use his quirk a little with the other one, but it’s heavily weakened.

Obviously he can’t use this in training either, so he never thought to mention it to his teachers.

The heroes + Overhaul just watch stunned for like a solid minute as he starts making his way towards where the heroes are being held hostage with the kids because what the fuck.

Finally though, Overhaul snaps out of it and goes to fight the weakened Katsuki. The kids hide when Overhaul comes out and he throws Katsuki against a wall or something b/c he’s heavily weakened and can’t really fight with his quirk anymore, and then he struts over to him monolouging and ready to claim victory as Katsuki is laying there, slumped over and barely breathing.

And then the moment Overhaul gets close to him, Katsuki is up in a flash and the heroes can hardly even see what happened, but the next thing they know Overhaul is on the ground screaming bloody murder clutching his eyes and Katsuki is holding a blood stained knife. Then he gives Overhaul a curb stomp and he is OUT.

It should be noted, this is not any of the knives that he gave to Eri/Satsuki.

Someone, maybe Aizawa: “How many knives does he have???? I thought he was hiking????”

Shouto: “Oh yeah, at one point during the remedial courses we were babysitting kids together and he mentioned to me that he had 7 knives that day, and I honestly couldn’t tell if he brought more or less knives than he normally carried because of the children. Still not sure actually.”

Izuku: “I know he usually carried around 4 knives when we were kids but part of that was he had limited areas to hide them back then.”

Fatgum and Tamaki are both completely baffled and trying to fit this guy they’ve just been watching with the person that Kirishima described Katsuki to them as.

Anyways, so then Eri & Satsuki get the keys and go to free the heroes which are fairly close by while Katsuki guards Overhaul to prevent him from pulling a ‘gotcha’ on them. And also because the heroes are up a flight of stairs and Katsuki physically cannot walk up them right now.

It’s very emotional as Eri rushes to Aizawa and Satsuki rushes to her big sister who is now crying. And then the group heres a noise and all eyes go back up to the camera screens which are still somewhat up and running, currently focused on where Katsuki and Overhaul’s battle went down.

Turns out, before this whole mess started, the LOV sent Dabi to go take care of Overhaul because He Cannot Be Allowed To Have Arms, Goddamnit We Were Making A Point With That.

But then Katsuki went ahead and did Dabi's job for him, so Dabi radioed back to Tomura and Tomura changed his objective to "You know, while you're there anyways and he's weak, might as well grab the kid."

There’s two endings to this:

The door to the room Katsuki is in swings open and fucking Dabi waltzes in probably saying something like

"So, is this a bad time?"

Katsuki turns to look at him and in the most done, tired, angry, voice: "You asshole."

After drugging Katsuki somehow (because unlike Overhaul, Dabi is not stupid and isn't getting with 10 feet of Katsuki without being damn sure he's down for the count), Dabi kidnaps Katsuki for the second time and the two of them are teleported out of the area about 10 seconds before Aizawa/the other heroes are freed just barely too late to do anything about it.

This ending would mostly be because I'd want Dabi and Katsuki to have back and forth banter of Katsuki being so 110% done with everything and Dabi being like:

"Yeah, I'll admit, this is kinda a dick move and the universe definitely has it out for you today."

"You don't get to say 'the universe has it out for me' when you're the one kidnapping me asshole"

And also because it sets up some serious hurt/comfort.

or, ending 2)

Katsuki stumbles his way over to a doorway on the other side of the room to go grab some rope so he can tie Overhaul up. He opens the door, and Dabi's just standing there, having been about to open the door so he could capture Katsuki.

They just stare at each other wide eyed for several long seconds before

"Is now a bad time-"

And Katsuki slam's the door shut.

"N o !"

He takes five seconds to just stare at the door being pissed and then is like "No, fuck this, I have dealt with enough today." Then he proceeds to barricade the door as he goes through various forms of the words 'No, nope, fuck that, not happening', still exhausted and beaten up and done but 100% N O T H A V I N G T H I S.

The heroes get down there to help and and they search for Dabi only to discover on the camera footage that after Katsuki slammed the door on him, he apparently thought it was so funny that he just kinda shrugged, turned around and actually fucking left. Because, you know, his main objective was already completed, and he didn’t really feel like going the extra mile today.

All of this is on camera too, so it quickly spreads as a meme, along with other choice moments from the whole hideout fight including several ‘vibe checks’, one of Satsuki throwing a grenade into the face of on of the goons that was harassing her before, and also ‘knife check’ becoming a thing.

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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June 25: 2x24 The Ultimate Computer

Belated notes on my watch of The Ultimate Computer yesterday.

Kirk’s definitely in Captain Mode today. You can tell when he’s on edge and suspicious and serious.

Yet another old Kirk friend. Does he know everyone in Starfleet?

War games lol. But it’s “not the military.”

Spock is super into this computer.

A-7 Computer Expert Certification.

The crew’s not needed? Wow, okay, this is going to end badly.

“This gadget.” How do you really feel, Kirk?

And there’s Spock literally making faces behind the Commodore’s back. He is soooo that type. He’s like “Jim, are you hearing this? Can you believe this guy?”

I’m insulted on Kirk’s behalf right now. Replacing people with machines so blithely is offensive.

Of course Bones doesn’t like it.

Oh yeah triumvirate walking scene. I love them. it takes so little for me to think ‘what badasses.’ S2 is really stepping up this dynamic in particular.

And Spock is comfortable enough around Bones to be sassy around him

Oh no, the computer is already glitching, and there is no backup and no plan B.... Bones is completely right in his assessment. This is essentially a Titanic situation: way too much hubris involved. Nothing can go wrong so nothing will go wrong so we’ve planned for nothing going wrong!

McCoy has BFF Clearance. He can go wherever he wants.

“It’s the M-5? What happened to Ms 1-4?” Channel #5.

Ahhhh little gratuitous touch to Spock’s arm. They’re In Love.

“There are certain things men must do to remain men.”

“The right computer finally came along.” Damn Bones.

Jim’s suspicions about the computer coming right after that line make it look like he’s jealous that Spock likes it so much.

He’s getting a “red alert right here.” Computers don’t have that kind of intuition.

Jim’s so thoughtful and self-aware. He really cares both about his instincts and about interrogating those instincts for bias and unreasonableness. This is giving me real S1 vibes: the quiet, intelligent, idealized hero Captain at the fore.

This whole scene is perfect, eminently quotable, and sounds exactly like something that could have been written about automation in 2021. You’re okay with it when it’s happening to someone else but then the computer comes for YOUR job....

Uh-h, M-5 is turning off all the lights...

Space merchant marines... good to know.

HOW are the Captain and CMO “non-essential personnel”? The first sign that M-5 is illogical. They should bring some doctor on the landing party mission given that uh humans are going on it and might get injured.

Anyway I can’t wait for Kirk to destroy this bitch and save the day.

Lol it turned off the lights on Bones in sickbay.

Damn, now it’s trying to take Uhura’s job too!

Chekov is so bored.

Spock wants to serve under one man and one man ONLY. Loyalty to one man... sounds like a wedding vow... and Kirk looks so soft...

So, if Spock has to describe to McCoy what that (unnecessary bitchy and catty) “Captain Dunsel” remark means, by saying that it’s a phrase that “midshipmen use at Starfleet Academy,” is this to imply Bones didn’t go to Starfleet Academy?

He’s never felt so at odds with the ship.... a lover’s quarrel...she’s cheating on him with another man...

Jim Kirk, certified Poetry Nerd. He’s such a romantic.

So glad Bones got him a drink so he can return to the bridge and a possible emergency with just a little bit of a buzz going.

Spock in the chair...

Huh, an automated ship with no crew. Interesting concept.

Oh no M-5! She’s got control of the ship and she won’t let go!

Kirk’s face when Enterprise attacks.. the betrayal... his beautiful lady used for mindless destruction.

“Only a robot” ship--! Bones is insulted.

Kirk orders the computer turned off but we’re only halfway through the ep so...

....And the computer is sentient now.

That was the shortest Captain’s Log ever. “The computer has taken over the ship the end.”

Scotty’s like, “...Well what if we just unplug it?”

Okay so now they only have 19 crew.

Spock and Bones are on point today. “Don’t say it’s fascinating.” / “I won’t. But it is... interesting.” This bitch knows exactly what he’s doing.

The computer isn’t a child, guys!

We need powerful computers “so men don’t have to die in space”--like uh that man your computer literally just killed?

I don’t get Daystrom’s logic at all. He talks as if people, like, needed to do work in space, to survive or something. We don’t need to. We want to! We want to go out and meet cool aliens! This guy is no fun.

What is the thing “greater” than fact finding in space that the robots are going to free us to do? Like what is more impressive than SPACE? I don’t even get that.

Time to mix up fake sci fi world-building references with real references! The Nobel and Zee-Magnee Prizes. Sitar of Vulcan.

A theory emerges... the computer acts illogically...Daystrom won’t let Spock near it... I know this isn’t where this is going, but it kind of sounds like they’re implying it’s a scam, lol. He sold an idea he didn’t have so it’s like.. not a real computer.

Spock’s little protege, Chekov.

“We have been pursuing a wild goose.” Aw, bb’s trying so hard to be colloquial. (Also he 100% learned that phrase from McCoy in The Gamesters of Triskellion and now he’s trying it out on Kirk...when McCoy isn’t around.)

“Not to offend you by using the h-word, but... could it be... human?”

Kirk’s really mad at Daystrom now.

The Commodore really set up that dramatic turn to camera there.

Poor Kirk. His ship is being used for evil.

“They can’t destroy the ship, what would happen to the computer?!” Yes, the computer. And the other 19 people and himself but mostly the computer. Daystrom really has lost it.

I love the actor who plays him, though.

“You are great. I am great.” Nothing weird happening here.

Spirk attack! (Spork it out.)

Spock’s way too sure Commodore Wesley is about to die. “He was decent, it’s a shame the ship I’m on is gonna kill him.”

And now another round of Kirk versus the computer and Kirk’s logic wins.

M-5 should argue that it did not commit murder, it committed homicide in self-defense. But then Daystrom didn’t program it with a lawyer’s brain.

It’s uh just gonna leave? Not turn the lights back on?

Kirk is so smart! I know I say this all the time, but it’s true! He knew what to do to save the ship because he knew Bob Wesley. He had formed connections, he had experience and knowledge that doesn’t come from logic. He is not replaceable!

McCoy’s like “Spock, fight me. Debate me Spock. Fight me. I’ll be fun.”

Spock HAS answered the computers versus humans question--he likes humans. He wants to be surrounded by humans.

That was really good! One of the better S2 episodes. Great Kirk, great triumvirate--as a trio and all three sides of the triangle--great sci fi concept, great guest star, great social commentary--still 100% relevant today.

i definitely have to think more about the ‘human computer’ concept. I liked that they specifically went out of their way to explain why the computer was human, how that was part of its design, and then tied that into its creator, his background, his belief system, and his insecurities. I feel like most ‘sentient computer’ or ‘advanced AI’ narratives just assume a computer that’s powerful enough will eventually be alive, which is not something I believe. The scariness of advanced AI to me is the incredible power it has to act quickly, but in a complete black-box way: you can’t literally see the logic string of its thought processes, and nor can you figure them out easily or completely using the creators’ intentions or logic because the machine has ‘learned’ since its inception, and its learning processes are not human. There is a real alienness to them that I find scary. And I do think this ep captured that nuance in M-5: it has the speed and abilities of a super computer, the “human” qualities of its creator for well-explained reasons, and the unpredictability of a mechanism that is NEITHER human nor human-controlled tool. And of course the ep’s ultimate thesis--that humans cannot be completely automated or replaced, and that we should not want to automate or replace humans--is comforting and of a morality I can and want to agree with.

This was also one of those eps that made me curious about the differences in AOS and TOS Kirk--in other words, an ep that relied on his history with Starfleet and his experience, on the reality that he’s a 34 year old man with 15+years of experience in the Fleet. Time, experience, connections, these aren’t things you can replace no matter how smart you are, and I feel like it would have been interesting to see AOS!Kirk deal with some situation that is trickier for him because he’s a Captain with a startlingly small amount of institutional experience. It’s not just about being young or generally inexperienced, in other words--it’s about NOT knowing every Captain, Admiral, and Commodore in the service, it’s about NOT having friends across the galaxy because he just hasn’t had time to make them. Even in deep space, that matters. And I think it’s something that I appreciate more as an adult myself, with actual real world experience of the importance of connections and experience and time, especially in sort of insular or smaller work communities.

Anyway, next is Bread and Circuses! Another great ep for the triumvirate. I can’t believe we’re almost through S2!!

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #star trek tos #2021: fandom thoughts

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razieltwelve · 3 years

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Final Earth Exports (Final Earth)

Final Earth is an AU in which Vanille accidentally opens a portal to an Earth very similar to ours by accident. The main differences is that nothing associated with the Final Rose universe (e.g., RWBY, Final Fantasy, etc.) exists there and they don’t have the same political leaders we do.

For the Children of Remnant, Earth is a veritable gold mine. There are huge quantities of resources (e.g., raw materials, food, etc.) and comparatively little danger. Obviously, Earth isn’t perfect, but we’re also not locked in existential battle against a bunch of monsters that spend all of their free time wondering how they can kill us all more efficiently. To get at those resources, what could Remnant export to Earth?

Let’s have a look at some possibilities.

Energy Simply put, Remnant is centuries ahead of Earth in power production. Final Earth is set when Fraise is in her twenties, so Remnant already has access to not only hyper-efficient fission reactors but also fusion reactors of all kinds. As in, they literally have portable fusion reactors and fusion reactors that can be scaled from small enough to fit into a closet to large enough to power entire continents. They’ve also got a functional orbital solar collection system/death ray.

Imagine you’re Australia (the portal opens up to the middle of the Australian desert). Now, one of the things people complain about the most is cost of living, and a big part of that is electricity. If Remnant were to build a power plant for Australia, they could massively reduce the cost of electricity. This would benefit not only regular people but also industry and commerce. Moreover, Australia’s political leaders would love it.

Want to get re-elected? Tell everybody the cost of electricity is going down by at least 75% and watch the votes just roll in, not to mention the reduction in the cost of goods and services. With drones to aid construction techniques, they could have a hyper-efficient fission reactor or a fusion reactor built in months, maybe less.

Medical Care One of the few upsides of waging existential war for centuries is advancements in medical technology. As long as you’re not dead, there’s very little that Remnant can’t fix. Earth humans are actually easier to fix since they don’t have complex Aura circulatory systems or anything like that.

Setting aside medical science, there are also a whole heap of Semblances like Fraise that would, by Earth standards, be considered miracles.

Not only would exporting medical care be extremely profitable it would also be another fantastic means of securing political support. Again, any leader would leap at the chance to be able to tell their constituents that all those medical problems they have can now be dealt with. This might sound awful, but can you imagine what it would do for a leader’s polling numbers if they could point at Remnant and say to people: don’t worry, that terminal illness you’ve got, that paralysis you’ve got? No problems. They can fix it. Just vote for me, and I’ll get the deal done.

Reproductive Science The cost of fertility treatment is enormous and results are not guaranteed. That’s not an issue for Remnant. Give them two people, and they’ll have a baby ready to go before you know it. Like the other exports, this is another automatic win in the public relations department (you just know Jihl and Jahne are going to push this angle hard).

Transport Remnant has way more advanced transport like actual flying warships, transports, etc. I can think of plenty of world leaders who might want a stealth capable aircraft that can manoeuvre like a more agile helicopter but packs the speed of a fighter jet and the range of a commercial jetliner.

Tourism Let’s be blunt. People like cute and awesome stuff. Remnant has plenty of both. I’m sure people would pay handsomely to get to ride a chocobo or to see some of the wildlife in Remnant. It’s like Jurassic park except instead of just giant reptiles, you can get giant tigers, giant rats, giant birds, giant... everything, basically.

Culture Earth loves heroes. We make sportspeople, celebrities, and so on into heroes and put them up on pedestals. How might Earth people react when they have a chance to see actual superheroes with actual superpowers in action? I have a sneaking suspicion that hunters will become super popular on Earth, and that tournament and hunting footage will make piles of money. And that’s not counting other aspects of Remnant’s culture and civilisation that might be popular. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. Remnant has actual cat girls. The internet would explode.

Weapons Yeah, Remnant kind of has the whole weapons thing down. Even if they don’t give out their most up to date weaponry, they’re still decades, maybe even further ahead of Earth. After all, this is a civilisation that has functional laser weapons, mechs, aerial warships, rail guns, plasma weapons, orbital death rays, etc.

Mercenaries There are plenty of battles being fought on Earth. Can you imagine what even a lower-level hunter would be able to do on the battlefield? Heck, imagine what the average student at Beacon would do to human opponents who don’t have Aura. It’d be like sending superheroes out to fight civilians.

Of course, you could also go a step further. Imagine someone like Snow being deployed onto a battlefield. That blue giant of his is capable of standing up to nukes and has attacks that are considered weapons of mass destruction. Imagine Lumina taking the field. Imagine Elsa.

Other Services This is a category that kind of lumps together all of the other stuff Remnant can do that Earth can’t. Take someone like Elsa. Do you have a weather problem? Is your country suffering from draught or about to be hit by blizzards/hurricanes? No problem. Pay the fee, get it fixed. Quick and easy. Guaranteed. Have a science issue? Vanille and her lab can get it handled. Want someone to interrogate your suspects? Pay the right price, and Jihl has you sorted.

Gary No world is safe.

X X X

Author’s Notes

Earth meeting Remnant would be fascinating. Of all the nations on Remnant, I think Atlas would be the most interested since they have the most difficult position in terms of territory and resources. It’s a good thing they’ve got Jihl to go snooping around for deals. It’s not like she won’t take shameless advantage of the situation...

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

#final rose #final earth #fanfiction

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laufire · 3 years

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Supernatural s5

I finished it a little while ago, but I haven’t had the time to make an involved post about it -or watch that much of s6 yet; I’m trying to be Resposible and the time I have has been spent in advancing fics a little bit or answering short asks lol.

-I have really enjoyed this season for the most part, but there’s something I need to get of my chest LOL: all through it, the song “Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor)” played in my head xDD. Like, listen, I knew what I was signing up for with this show!! I didn’t expect NOT to find it offensive or regressive on multiple occasions!! But I guess s3-4 must have spoiled me lmao. I’m not saying those seasons are the height of feminism, but if you removed its most important female characters, ESPECIALLY Ruby, the plot of the season would fall apart. That’s not something you can say for s5 and preventing the Apocalypse, just sayin’.

It wouldn’t’ve been that hard to expand Meg’s, Anna’s or the Harvelle’s part (they had good material to go there -Meg as the faithful possibly opening her eyes, Anna as the betrayed and the juror jury and executioner, the Harvelles as normal hunters fighting something way too big for them-, but barely any time and like I said, no incidence in the actual plot of the season). Hell, I’m biased but bringing back Ruby would’ve at least taken care of the problem lol. Or if the show had indulged me and kept Bellamy Young as Lucifer, at least. But everyone with a real say in the plot is a dude, or at least wearing one as a vessel (angel’s conception of gender is clearly different from humans, but in terms of ~~representation the results are the same lbr).

-My constant frustrations with Supernatural’s bigotry-related stuff lol, like I said, I really enjoyed the season (that combination is one of the most frustrating things about the show lmao). Especially Castiel’s plot. The guy has reached Potential Hall of Faves status and that’s hum. A Problem xD

But seriously, he was breaking my heart in all the best ways. His search for God (the Absent Father that the show specifically compared to John añsldkfjasf. This show ISTG!!), his disappointment and sense of betrayal at being let down (he called God Himself “son of a bitch”!!!). I was especially fascinated by his Endverse version -that AU will have its own section lol-, although it resulted in making me reaaaally nervous whenever he was close to an addictive substance :). Like yes, those scenes were lowkey humourous and adorable (like when he drinks shots with the Harvelles and Ellen is fascinated and Jo delighted -... lowkey shipping this too btw. Lowkey shipping Castiel with lots of people-, or his combo with Sam when he got drunk), but also, you know, WORRYING xD

Some of my favourite scenes of his were, predictably, his interactions with Meg or Lucifer in 5x10. The Megstiel scene was SUPER HOT (both their voices are very unf-y lol), I can’t wait to edit it. And having Lucifer call Castiel “a peculiar thing” sure was something xD (although lbr, this Lucifer isn’t keeping with his rebel angel reputation, Castiel is carrying that all by himself smh).

Another scene I couldn’t get out of my head if I wanted to is when he uhhhh... completely LOSES IT and starts beating the crap out of Dean when he was ready to give it up to Michael. “I gave everything for you, and this is what you give me?!?” ooooooof. It was hard to watch, and fascinating and intense. I shamelessly loved it lmfao.

Though my favourite moment of his is one that can only be appreciated when you know certain things about s6. It’s the scene where, unlike everyone else, he shows appreciation for Sam’s plan of sacrificing himself to get rid of Lucifer. Because yes, at this point it’s the only thing that can save the world. But Castiel isn’t saying, “Sam’s life is a small price to pay in comparison”, because he will go into s6 and snatch Sam out of the cage immediately. s5 established Sam got out, so with that in mind, he didn’t bring it up because he didn’t want to create false hope in case he failed, but he backed the plan with the intention of saving Sam anyway. I love that. I love him.

-The entire season was Missing Ruby Hours for me lmfao. Like I said, some of the problems in the season wrt female characters would’ve been at the very least lessened if she’d gotten to be here wrecking havoc. But generally I just miss her and What Could Have Been with her here. I enjoyed some of the crumbs (Sam using the witchcraft skillz he learned from her! Sam immediately knowing Meg isn’t Ruby, unlike Dean! Her knife! The ARCHANGEL GABRIEL referencing her as “the demon Sam chose over his brother”!! The callbacks with Crowley or Brady!!), but I would’ve wanted her here, dammit xD.

-Aaaaand we’re finally getting to Sam, who is without a doubt the star of the season, if you ask me. His plan at the end, to let Lucifer possess him in the hopes he can fight back for just long enough to overpower him and throw them both into the cage, with no hopes for himself? This is the kind of Big Damn Hero stunt I’m a sucker for, I won’t lie. And I love that the show felt the need to confirm he was still alive at the end of the season hehe.

He really Went Through It this season and he held on lmfao. On top of everything (the apocalypse, the guilt of being its final trigger, the addiction recovery, etc.), he also had to deal with Dean’s usual bullshit, which is no small feat xDD. Like, sure, from an audience stand-point all those things are interesting (some fave/the fuck moments are when Dean is obviously peeved that Bobby still supports Sam because he wanted Bobby in HIS corner, or when he has the nerve to say he wants to say yes to Michael because he doesn’t trust SAM not to say yes to Lucifer lmfaoooo), BUT IT’S STILL A FEAT XD

One note: for all the talk about bi!Dean, bi!Sam is so SEEN this season xDD. AFAIC he totally hooked up with that bartender Paul (RIP Paul. At least in your last moments you enjoyed Sam, who’s clearly an energetic, attentive lover 😔). And Crowley refers to Brady as Sam’s demon ex-boyfriend and nobody bats and eye lmfao (that story is so angsty... the parallels to Ruby, how he ingratiated himself with Sam by pretending to have fallen off the wagon... ouch).

-I have mixed feelings on Crowley. On his own, I fell absolutely in love with the guy on his first appearance. A demon that DOUBTS Lucifer and doesn’t kiss his ass?? That wants to get rid of him and do his own thing?? And clearly enjoys ~earthly pleasures to the fullest (his complains about how the other demons ate his tailor had me rolling laksjdfa)? The way he turned the tables on Brady? OFC I love him. OTOH boy, does it annoy me knowing that fandom GLADLY embraced him when they condemned characters like Bela or Ruby for similar things. It’s not his fault so I still like him (he’s like Gabriel in that sense), but it’s annoying!

It also annoys me how Dean Must Be Right All The Time syndrome interacts with him lol. This season Dean decides they can trust Crowley (despite Crowley killing two humans in front of him and getting him beat up by Brady lol), so they can. Next season he decides they can’t, so Castiel will be WrongTM because Dean Says So. Ugggggh xD

-To be fair, however, this season has my fave Dean so far LOL. In the love/hate scale, this one has been almost solely in camp love, barring some of those moments of irksome hypocrisy that he’s so prone to xD.

But there was something about how this season’s plot chipped away at him, you know? For all the traits he has that drive me up the wall or unsettle me, I appreciate a lot of his personality because it makes him a unique and interesting character driving the narrative -his irreverence, his ability to think on the fly and get out of shitty situations, his disbelief. Seeing all of those things under siege this season made me hurt for him in a way I hadn’t anticipated LOL. By the time he was ready to give in to Michael (and I love that what made him step away from that choice was Sam showing a trust in him he patently didn’t deserve lbr), sometimes I felt terribly for the guy.

I also wonder if this season kind of marked like... the beginning of the end for him, narrative-wise? Making him Michael’s vessel (his angel condom) is the kind of thing that turns him from subject into object, and that can doom characters ime. The fact that he ~resigns himself to Sam’s death when his identity as a character came with being His Brother’s Keeper is another slight.

-I continue having mixed feelings about Destiel too LMAO. I’ve decided I’m just going to try to enjoy the good and interesting parts while I can, while trying not to think of future developments that’ll likely sour the ship for me lol.

Because in truth, yeah, I enjoy their interactions a lot here! The Endverse was particularly enjoyable for me (back to that in a moment), but the entire season had a lot of gems. That moment in the finale, when Dean is wounded on his knees after Sam sacrifices himself, and Castiel resurrects and heals him with a touch? And Dean is staring in awe and asks him if he’s become God?? Like wtf am I supposed to do with that. WHO SAYS THAT. XDD

-The Endverse. Omgggggggg. The Endverse. I doubt I can say anything about it that hasn’t been said a thousand times, but seriously. I loooove it, all of it. My favourite was endverse!Castiel, ofc. The way he was in No Man’s Land, not an angel and not quite a human, his ways of trying to cope with that, how burned he was... I uncomfortably related to some of it too lmfao, but let’s not get into that xD.

Seeing both Deans interact was gr10 too. They really couldn’t stand each other lmfao (do you understand me now Dean?? They actually reminded me of two OCs in an original WIP of mine that are in a similar situation -in this case it’s the future version purposefully traveling to the past though-, which made me even fonder of the AU). And the Destiel? *chef’s kiss*. The bitterness, like when Castiel laughs when present!Dean berates endverse!Dean about the tortures and then purposefully says “I like past you” to hurt him asñldkfjasf. Or those looks when Dean returns to the past and tells Castiel to “never change” d’aw.

I loved Lucifer!Sam in this episode too (and personally, I think in the finale Lucifer -and Michael- should’ve changed his outfit too. Sam’s clothes just don’t get to The Devil’s levels, but that white suit was perfect). He was terrifying xD.

BTW: I’ve decided that, since we never see endverse!Castiel die, well. He didn’t xD. I could see Lucifer keeping him alive and captive out of a sense of nostalgia, as Castiel is the only other thing close to a fellow angel left. Might even decide to return his powers with time, or to ~entice him with such an offer lol. And ofc I headcanon Sam is still inside, occasionally trying to fight. Cue in all the Castiel/Lucifer and Castiel/Sam fic ideas too (I have waaaaay too many of those for this mini-verse. It’s very inspiring).

-I’m still on the fence at Lucifer’s motivations but I can’t question how the family issues fit so, so well into this ‘verse. “Family is hell” is the show’s thesis, after all xD. IMO the angels in general don’t feel like a family, they’re a military body/cult lol, but the Archangels are another matter. I guess is the whole “only four angels have seen God-slash-Dad” thing, the rest were... well, the help, apparently.

But Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel do feel like brothers when they interact (I’m guessing here Gabriel is the Adam: discarded by the other two like nothing :)))). Raphael too, but since he doesn’t interact with them... does he get to later? Or is he the odd one out? Did the others avoid him because he kept quoting Nietzsche at dinner?? LOL.

-There are no words to explain how terribly I feel for Adam. JFC that poor KID. Who was kind and helpful and intuitive, and only wanted his mother back and to help stop the end of the world. And that Sam and Dean will leave rotting in Hell for a millennia :))). It’s kiiiiiiiiind of hard to do for your show’s “heroes” when they do shit like that lmfao. It’d be different if they never tried to make him feel he’s family, but Sam tried to convince him with the bs “because we’re blood” and they did a half-baked attempt at saving him from Zacharias, and then... yeah. At least he had Michael in the cage, but still.

-I was already spoiled of this, but the reveal that cupids made John and Mary fall in love is so chilling (good on Dean for punching that cupid asshole, btw). It puts what Mary says about John in flashbacks, about how much she loves him and how perfect he is, in such a terrifying light. And I’m under the impression that the show didn’t bother to deal with this properly when they resurrected Mary and just... I hate that tbh. It’s a narrative choice that should have a huuuge impact, dammit.

-I kind of loved how bitter and angry Bobby was about (temporarily, thanks to Crowley, his new demon bf -watch out Rufus) ending up in a wheelchair. That there were no platitudes or false sentimentality and it just... was.

-The Harvelles’ had a good send off. I can respect Kripke for wanting his faves to go on his terms lol. Having Jo refuse Dean’s offer of a fuck on their possible last night on Earth with “I rather spent it with a little thing I have self-respect”? Not because she doesn’t have feelings for him, but because she thinks she deserves better from him? I love it. This guy knows his pettiness xD

-The fact that this fandom seems to have ignored Gabriel x Kali is one of the reasons I’m never going to vibe with it, sns. Immortal exes? Check. She tricked him and killed him... but then it turns out HE tricked and he’s alive? Check. BUT THEN HE STILL GOES BACK AND SAVES HER, DYING BY HIS BROTHER’S HAND?? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Ugh, why can’t they come back to me. I know, I know, Kali is a WoC and those are only allowed one (1) appearance before they’re killed off, apparently. So it might be a good thing that she doesn’t return xD. But gosh, they were gr10.

-Death the Horseman’s intro cleared my skin. I love him. I love how utterly terrifying he is and how chilling his and Dean’s scene was. And I yearn to find a picture of the guy a little younger and with a goatee, because he’s the most perfect Discworld’s Vetinari fancast I’ve ever found xDD

-I’ve seen tons of commentary over the years, and especially lately for obvious reasons, about how this season finale would’ve been a much better ending for the show. I’m not there yet, and it does sound like the finale was a mess and this one’s was a very well constructed episode (and, ofc, the Final Love Interest was NOT blurry!!). But even if by the end I come to loathe the finale, there’s one reason I already know won’t let me agree on the s5 ending being perfect: God xDD

The episode makes Chuck come across as a ~benevolent figure and no, fuck that, do NOT want, take it away from me!! Give me God as the Big Bad Wolf, the last evil to conquer any day. It’s like Dumbledore all over again: I enjoy the character a lot more if I feel canon and I are on the same page wrt his shadiness xDD

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rachetmath · 4 years

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What would it be like if rwbyjnor met the dutch, revy and rock

I don't understand the specifics of this request so I'll do this in the best way I can. This going to be long so be ready.

Rwby x Black lagoon

Black Lagoon crosses to Remnant:

Revy and Dutch along with team RWBY, Ren and Nora are fight a bunch of Beowolves while Jaune and Rock are fighting side by side with mostly Jaune doing most of the work while Rock provides a view tips and assisting mostly with what he can find.

Revy: So, let me get this straight you fight shit heads freaks of nature like these like every single day?

Ruby: Yep.

Dutch: And all of you have a very specific weapon that you customize yourselves to be it a blade and firearm?

Ren: Precisely.

Benny: And you have unnatural and natural resources like dust and with highly advanced technology?

Weiss: Yes.

Dutch: And you can use all that as well as this thing called aura along with a semblance?

Nora: Yeah, semblances are like a superpower.

Revy: How super?

Yang: Universal.

Revy: Well-

Revy looks to see Ruby turn her weapon from a sniper rifle to a scythe.

Revy: Dutch, can we stay here?

Dutch: HELL NO!!! Look, I hate to say this, but I much prefer seeing crazy psychos, and bullets fly than this horror fest. Plus, I may not be father but ya'll parents let you do this every day, they are very stupid and irresponsible.

Yang: Hey we're trained for this. Well except one.

Revy: Yeah that guy with Rock over there. He is doing fine but I can tell he's not all your levels. How did even survive let only get into your school?

Ruby: That we don't know or bother asking as long he works.

Revy: Well I can say that it's stupid but I still I wonder how he got in.

*Jaune and Rock side*

Rock: So, let’s get this straight. Your father never bothered to train you and no combat school was willing to accept you, so your best method was to cheat?

Jaune: Yeah, I know, I'm a complete fool.

Rock: I mean if you were willing to work hard to get there despite the risk, I say, you sir have my respect.

Jaune: But I am an idiot, I mean, I lost the only girl you who believed in me.

Rock: Jaune, let me give you a piece of advice. Get over yourself! If you still have even just one friend in this crazy messed up world then you're okay. Trust me, I know a little on how you feel. I mean look me compared to the others, do I look like I'm a mercenary?

Jaune: Why do hang out with them anyways?

Rock: Like you with your friends, mines, I guess appreciate my abilities. Look let's talk about this another time and try to survive this freak show.

Jaune: Deal.

RWBY and JNRO crosses to Black Lagoons:

Team RWBY and JNPR are fighting a mafia group along with Revy and Dutch. Ruby armed with a handgun, an old scythe and sniper with a bayonet, Weiss with a rapier and little knifes, Blake with a handgun and a katana, Yang with a shotgun and iron brazed knuckles, Jaune with an military armed shield, sword and rifle(Dutch taught him how to use it. Surprised it took him a week.) Nora with a grenade launcher, Ren dual wielding pistols and knives and Oscar with a pipe.

Revy: Holy crap, you brats are good even without your powers or usual weapons.

Ruby: We adapt.

Nora: Seriously, you guys do stuff like this every day?

Dutch: For the right price, yes. But yeah, you kids on a natural.

Yang: By the way, thanks for teaching Jaune how to use a gun.

Dutch: Thank Rock for making him listen, he said he wouldn't last long if he didn't. But in all seriously the guy learns quick, I mean, it took him a week to learn how you use that rifle.

Ren: A week! We need to start teaching him and make sure he brings one more often.

Nora: Might makes things easier from here on.

Jaune: Can all of stop talking and focus! We'll talk when we're done. Oscar, hurry up.

Oscar: Oh, I'm sorry but fighting with a pipe is hard!

Jaune: Why didn't you bring a sword!

Oscar: I will not kill!

After a crazy battle, the group along with Rock and Benny celebrated their victory at the bar. While the girls, as well as Ren and Oscar was living it up with Revy, Benny and Dutch, at the front bar Jaune and Rock were talking after Rock told him a stories about how his employers sold him out, the hell he endured in his stay Roanaper, Yukio, and his old client Garcia.

{Rock's side}

Jaune: Damn.

Rock: Yeah.

Jaune: Well, you did what you had to.

Rock: But I didn't have to. I should've walk away and not attached. I'm supposed to be the good guy, Jaune. But this city, I feel like it's eating me alive. All these mafia bosses, war criminals and shit... it's all just getting to me. You know.

Jaune: Yeah, I understand, but what are going to do about it? you made the choice to stay and you got live with it. I mean, hearing all the crap you've done, I somewhat envy you.

Rock: What do you mean?

Jaune: When Chang said pull out, you went in. Every time something bad happens you try to be the good guy and make things better. True it fails at times and from the look of this city, you'll have no choice but to throw righteousness away to survive. But in my opinion, you still at least stand as the hero of the story.

Rock: *laugh* How so!? Come on tell me, how can I, a piece of under burying shit can possible still be a hero to you. The worthless knight, who can barely fight and couldn't save his partner!?

Jaune: Exactly. Most people survive based on luck. You on the other hand survived not just on what you know but what learn in return. The world's a crazy place, and most of time you don't know where you'll end up. However, you still have control of what you do next. Your still able to keep people alive. You still do your job. You still try to be nice and maintain some level of morality even if it may never be enough or get you killed. So, trust me when I say this, you have done all what you could. Hell, I barely can do anything.

Rock: Shut up. When it comes down to it your friends are as crazy and trigger happy as Revy. They need somebody like you who can keep them alive. Just keep trying to do right by them and for yourself. Trust me, you can talk down to yourself all you want. But it doesn't change the fact that your alive, you made mistakes and you change. Promise you won't go down how I did, because believe me once you go too far in the darkness you may never come back from it. Or at least not be the same person you were before.

Jaune: Yeah. Plus, that Revy woman, I think you can trust her to help you back up or shoot you down when you have gone too far.

Rock: Really? How come?

Jaune: She talks about you all the time when she's drunk. She saves you even when you deserve to die for being stupid. And finally, she hasn't killed you yet despite the many times you've pissed her off.

Rock: Speaking of women, which one of those lovely ladies is your girlfriend?

Jaune: Funny I was about ask you the same between Revy and the blonde, named, Eda.

Rock: *laughing* To the C.M.F.?

Jaune: To the C.M.F *Shared a toast with Rock and started drinking*

{Revy Side}

Ruby: So, Revy?

Revy: What is it little red?

Ruby: Are you and Rock dating?

Revy: *cracks glass cup while blushing* W-w-WHAT!? NO!! Of course not. Why the hell would you ask that?

Nora: You look at him a lot.

Blake: You talk to him the most.

Yang: An unlike most, you call him your partner.

Revy: Well yeah cause he's useful. That’s all. Nothing special.

Weiss: Really, cause when you got drunk last time, we asked you about him, you got an attitude and started talking crazy.

Revy: Oh.

Yang: So how-

Revy: We started off at the wrong foot and we're just making up as we go.

Yang: Well that's great and-

Revy: Can't say the same thing for you guys and your friend Jaune, though.

Nora: Pardon?

Revy: I'm just saying, don't think you know everything about your friend, hell I don't think he cares about any of you.

Blake: *angry glare* What makes you say that?

Revy: Well let’s be clear here. Jaune was loser with dreams, he was willing to make those dreams a reality, no matter the price he didn't know he'll have to pay. And guess what, the debt was do and it caused Pyrrha her life.

Yang: Maybe so but-

Revy: And before you all start giving him praise for what he accomplished, let me ask you something. How did he feel afterwards? I mean, losing the only person to ever provide with some sort of love and respect, a family that never believed in once in his life, I say the kid must been a loser for a long time. And if him and his Sapphron were the only two to ever bother to leave the nest, then that proves that the rest of his siblings are just good for nothing nobodies who scared of the world, or just found more meaning in their lives without having to leave the comfort of their home. Face it, like Rock, your friend got something to prove and he's willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself to everyone. Even if it causes him his life and his humanity.

Ruby: No. No, we won't-

Revy: And what are you people going to do? Hold his hand? Give him those morally great speeches of yours? Pathetic. Just like your friend Pyrrha who died a meaningless death for worthless, foolish old man, who could barely do the job he's was given by god himself.

RWBYN: *angry at Revy comment but grows to accept it*

Ren was about to start threatening however Dutch stops him by reestablishing that one shot can turn the bar into a war zone and showing Ren that Revy always has her trigger finger ready. So, Ren does nothing.

Revy: Face it, you guys aren't capable of saving him. But what do I know, I'm no hero nor do I want to be? The only guy I seem to care about is changing and I don't know how he's going to turn out. To think that I might have to shoot him down someday. But fuck it, that’s just of missed up every world is.

Dutch: Wow Revy you changed.

Revy: What?

Benny: You act less bitchy than you were before and now you’re a little more open with others. Rock must have touched your heart.

Revy: Shut up, Benny. *looking red all over her face*

Everyone laughs at her embarrassment.

Revy: Oh, shut the fuck up you cunts! Hm. Anyways which one you are dating that knight in shining armor anyways since you're all worried about him?

Nora: I already got a boyfriend.

Revy: You mean twinkle toes right there. Mr. Emmo.

Nora: You must want to fight.

Revy: Anyone?

RWBY: Nope.

Revy: *makes a call*

Eda: Hey bitch, what do want?

Revy: Hey Eda do you like blondes? Because I got an average looking-

Eda barges in with her short green skirt and pink top shirt on. She looks at Revy, knowing what she wants, Revy points to Jaune with Rock and Eda makes her. She walks with hips swaying from side to side and sit between Rock and Jaune.

Rock: *surprised* Eda, what are doing here? When you did you get here?

Eda: Oh, Rock honey, I’m just taking advantage of my opportunities. *Sees Jaune staring in amazement. She smiles* Say, I heard rumors about you and your blonde friend right here and was wondering if you two would have some-

Revy and Weiss both break their glasses and make their way over.

Revy and Weiss: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU CUNT!!!

Revy surprised how Weiss and she were in complete sink and while she smug, Weiss was embarrassed.

Revy: Oh, so you like him like that.

Weiss: *grabs Jaune by the arm and pulls him away* EVERYONE! WE ARE LEAVING!

Jaune: But Weiss I finally found someone I can talk!

Weiss: YOU’LL PLENTY OF PEOPLE TO TALK TO ONCE WE GET HOME!!

Jaune: But Weiss- damn it, later Rock. See you someday.

Rock: God speed brother and remember everything I told you.

Jaune: You as well and good luck.

A bright light was opened and just like that the kids disappeared. Back to their universe. Revy and Rock were smiling but Rock, remembering what Jaune said about trust, ask Revy

Rock: Revy?

Revy: What up, partner?

Rock: Let’s say, I things took too far and made an enemy of someone who would want me killed. Will you be there to kill me instead? Even if you were paid to do so, will be there to stop me?

Revy: *smiles but then covers Rocks eyes so he never sees it* Of course. I got you into this, so you’re my responsibility. Partner.

Rock: *smiles* Thanks.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #Blake Belladonna #yang xiao long #jnro #Jaune Arc #lie ren #nora valkyrie #Oscar Pine #jaune x weiss #rwby whiteknight #black lagoon #revy #dutch #benny #rock #revy x rock

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nissakii · 3 years

Text

"You can be a hero!" - The Strongest Hero BNHA Game Review

We’re so used to watching our favorite characters fight their battles and anime as we cheer them on relentlessly. We are always on the sidelines and hope they succeed in their endeavors, but we are never in the stories ourselves.

That has now changed with the new mobile game that came out recently based on the popular anime Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horiskoshi.

Welcome to: Boku no Hero Academia - The Strongest Hero.

Today, a week after the global release of the game, having played a little and explored some of its features, we will dive into what the game brings to the table, the mechanics of it and what you can expect!

Makii and I worked together on this, especially since we are both fans of BNHA and love to delve deep into these kinds of reviews.

So to start off, this game has had its global release on the 19th of May 2021 and was published by Sony Pictures Television for the US and by A PLUS JAPAN for the EU already on the 18th of the same month.

Many people have pre-registered for the game release beforehand in hopes of snagging rewards, and only quickly enough the first million downloads were established in a matter of days. No wonder at all, since BNHA is one of the most popular new generation anime. There is a huge fan base surrounding it who are eager to play the game.

Before the global release was initiated, it was released by the chinese studio Xin Yuan on December 3rd 2020, which resulted in many people using VPNs and emulators to experience the charm of ‘The Strongest Hero’. No wonder the game downloads skyrocketed when it was released globally in english (more languages such as german and french coming soon), it was recorded that the players had problems getting into overloaded servers, but those problems were quickly managed.

If you have no idea what the anime or manga of BNHA is about but are still interested, let me give you a quick synopsis.

In a world where 80% of the population are born with mutant abilities called “Quirks”, the job of the superhero became more than just a fantasy in comics. Now, the police are second rate as everyone looks up to the heroes who support and save the world.

Izuku Midoriya, also known by his nickname ‘Deku’, is one of the few Quirkless humans but still admires hero-work like nobody else.

Until one day the tables turn and he ends up with his own new power, now ready to go to renowned U.A. highschool for heroes to become what he always wanted to be: someone who saved lives with a smile on his face.

Now in this game, you are the one who steps into the shoes of a young aspiring hero who wants to climb up the ladder of success and defeat all villains in your way while protecting your people.

Are you stoked now? Let’s find out more!

The Game:

Advertised as an action MMO-RPG, The Strongest Hero brings not only one but multiple different player modes that you can enjoy alone or with friends online!

Firstly, it’s an immersive story-telling game that lets you relive the actual plot of the anime Boku no Hero Academia so spoiler alert for the ones who haven’t watched it yet, this game will be dealing with the Deku’s story throughout it all.

It starts off with the first episode of the anime, showing us recaps and recreations of the anime but in the game-animation with small bits of interaction to refresh our memory on the fateful incidents that made Deku a true hero. With this retelling of the story, avid watchers of the anime can enjoy everything again from a new perspective, and new people with no knowledge of BNHA can still enjoy the game just as much.

It was even mentioned that the story campaign will be dealing with the contents of season one to three so far, with more already in planning.

So the developers made sure that the game is not only catered to its original fanbase, but to everybody out there!

Now with Deku as the first person you play as, we fast forward to Izuku who is more advanced in his skill set, as he already uses his original ‘shoot-style’ and One for All Full Cowling. You’re now a provisional Hero who just got his license, working for your own agency and completing missions all around town, meaning there is a little skip between the beginning of the game and where you actually start in Honei City.

The open-world is huge and leaves all sorts of possibilities to explore as you not only defeat villains, but also talk to the citizens and maybe even collect trash to fulfill your duty as a hero. Not only Deku is at your disposal, but currently a lot of other class 1-A students will soon fall into your hands! As Toshinori was released as a hero in the last update on May 26th we can assume that there are more to come.

Game modes:

Single player: As previously mentioned, the game will immediately lead you through the single player story campaign, as you try to keep the city safe and sound by defeating villains and completing missions.

There are next to the main-story missions the daily missions in which you ensure the city’s prosperity to get more rewards daily.

With this mode you can play with a multitude of skills and combos and the handling on the phone is very pleasant. With a left joystick on the touchscreen and skill buttons on the right you can activate the swift and powerful attacks that we already know from the anime.

There are also multiple things to do as a single-player as you can collect your daily supplies in several missions which you will need for training your hero, enhancing your gear and more limited to 20 runs for each supply with several difficulties.

Hero trials, commissions and even more features are all available despite being alone keeping you busy for a while, as some don’t even need stamina to fulfill since stamina limits the player in the missions they can do.

And if that is all too much action you can simply explore the city on your own and search for special items on your way.

This is extremely interesting for the ones who like to play at their own pace and alone to enjoy a mix of story-telling and hack n slash combat.

PvP: Contrary to the first mode, if you’re more interested in actually playing against others, ‘The Strongest Hero’ won’t disappoint in its Player vs. Player mode.

Even here we have multiple ways to play, as the Arena takes on a more classic 1 vs 1 feel in which you can defeat other players similar to other fighting-games, or the Super Co-Op battle which allows you to play 3 vs 3.

Soon we will also know what the mysterious War Zone Co-Op entails, as that feature is still to be launched.

Other Co-Op features are also the Agency assessment, the joint operation and Emergency.

Emergency shows us more of the work of a hero, in which you suddenly trigger an event that is of urgent matter and has to be completed with a team of other players quickly. Time runs out, and it is all about the true work of a hero where you have to act quick!

There is truly something for everyone in here

Not just an MMO:

Truly, this game is a lot more than just an MMO, even though its open-world is a huge part of it all.

To get your preferred heroes and play them, the game has a gacha system in place for you to pull for your luck!

Deku is in the player’s repertoire from the start, and his skill-set is very dynamic and swift with less damage but a lot more speed. His comments are just as loud as in the anime, and if that doesn’t give you any satisfaction do not worry! Every hero has his own fighting style and can be explored by playing the missions in which you will quickly deploy Denki Kaminari and Kirishima Eijiro.

The game differs between three types of heroes: Speed, Power and Technical as the three examples Deku, Kirishima and Denki already represent each respectively.

There is also knowledge that there will be Pro-heroes and even some villain characters in the mix.

The skills range extremely from heavy handed to swift or long to short range attacks. Just as varied as the fighting style is, we have beautiful animations that display the Quirks and many possibilities to use them.

Done with all the fighting? Look at the adorable dorm feature in which you can earn more stamina and organize a dorm room for your heroes. You can even make their chibi-versions run around in that room and catch a break from all the hero work.

Although the story might pester you with it’s orange glowing button in the upper right corner, you can just ignore everything and explore the gorgeously crafted open world environment(in most cases).

Yes, you can even walk up buildings!

Of course there is an autofinding feature to briskly get you to where your missions lead you, but if you so desire you can look at the urban starting world and walk around.

Since everyone else will have Deku as their first hero as well, it is incredibly amusing to see all the other Deku's running about.

The starting setting is true to the anime and shows us urban and modern Japan, with a strong hint of technological advancement.

The preset graphics on SD will give you the ability to walk around smoothly, but if your phone can take it, I urge you to at least try to up the graphics to a better resolution. The scenery is truly mesmerizing, and the art style as well as the visual effects have a huge appeal.

It’s even nicer to look at for the ones who haven’t seen enough of the BNHA universe in the anime, because now there are an abundance of regions to explore and the developers have made sure to give us a lot of eye candy.

“You” can be a Hero!:

After all this technical talk, why should you play this game?

First of all, from what I have witnessed as an excited anime watcher and manga reader, the story is catered to include the player.

It’s a lot more different than just watching Deku go through the world, you are actually responsible for how the mission turns out. It’s exhilarating to see characters from the anime like Kamui Woods and Mt.Lady talk to you and ask for help, as they are characters we didn’t see all that much in the anime. It gives the impression to be needed and included which is a great asset!

A hero doesn’t stray away from any work, so yes you will have to pick up trash from time to time or just talk to people to assess situations! Still, there are a lot of cameos of other characters like Hatsume Mei who takes care of your support gear.

Second of all, there is a lot of freedom for you.

From all the different game modes and mechanics to the story and even the split up Co-Op modes, you will have a lot of possibilities to explore and find why you want to play the game.

One thing is for certain, the gameplay has something for everyone and gives adequate rewards to you for every mission or task you clear. Features get unlocked gradually through playing the story and leveling up, which keeps the player on their toes.

One mission quickly leads to another, and it seems there is no end to what you can do, especially in the beginning of the game.

Sadly, that is also one of the drawbacks I will have to mention.

Due to the immense freedom and possibilities, the game bombards you with a lot of information. As a first time player, it’s probably that you will get overwhelmed by the forceful approach of the tutorial, but after a while it definitely gets a lot better in my opinion.

My personal highlights are the gacha system as I love to collect and work to pull my favorite characters, the story as a fan of the franchise and the co-op because I love to play the game with friends. So far I haven’t had the ability to actually play with others, but from what I’ve seen it all has a lot of potential.

Even though we’re talking about a free-to-play game, since stamina is one of the necessities to play missions etc, it is very scarce and often drives one to want to buy it, which is why the game leans towards a pay-to-win game. Still, with a bit more patience and some hard work everything is playable for free.

All in all, I shall conclude that The Strongest Hero is an honest and great attempt at making an anime based game which held a lot of expectations from the fanbase.

The immersive factors are amazing, the animations are top tier and the possibilities seem endless. At the end of the day it’s a game that is playable regardless of how much time you have due to the auto-play-function in many features and can be enjoyed in your personal way.

I hope you enjoyed our take on reviewing the game and give it a shot! If you have played it already or are planning to, please leave your personal impressions in the comments!

What a Co-Op teatime! Hope to see you again!

SUUMASHU!!

-Nissa & Makii

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goddamnelsa · 3 years

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Liz’s Top Books of 2020

blatantly stolen from @alamorn but also i wanted to feel accomplished that i did in fact read published books this year before descending entirely into mdzs/the untamed fanfiction :) :) :) :)

In two parts! Books I read that actually came out in 2020, and then honorable mentions of books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years. Enjoy!

Top Books Published in 2020 (which are not in any kind of order because I can’t like rank stuff, I’m not that kind of person)

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

What can I say except it’s N.K. Jemisin who wrote my favorite high fantasy series (The Inheritance Trilogy), won three consecutive Hugo Awards for her The Broken Earth trilogy, and she’s writing urban fantasy with Lovecraftian and superhero team flavor. I mean....obviously I was at the top of the wait list for this once my library ordered it. And it lived up to the hype!! Because of course!! It’s fabulously fast-paced with amazingly smart and interesting characters of diverse backgrounds. I kept thinking one of them was my favorite, and then another would have a great line and I would change my mind. It’s fine, they’re all technically one entity with several parts, so I can love them all and not choose (but it’s probably Bronca, let’s be real). And it’s the first of a series! And I’m counting down the days til there is more!

Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

I definitely picked this up simply because Lindsay Ellis, one of my favorite video essayists, wrote it, and then ended up loving everything about it. I’m not usually one for First Contact stories, but I appreciate the very human-focused approach here, sticking solely to an ordinary girl’s perspective as she navigates being the person first in contact with a very alien alien. Cora’s attempts to humanize Ampersand are relatable, but I appreciate Ellis reminding us at almost every turn that Ampersand is super Not Human, no matter how much Cora reads into his actions. Ellis doesn’t gloss over the Science part either, especially when it comes to the race of aliens Ampersand belongs to. Again, the first of a series, and you will absolutely be screaming for the next book when this one is over.

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria

Insert my obligatory “I don’t usually read romances blah blah blah.” Though, during lockdown, I attempted to branch out beyond my usual genres when I was attending a ton of publisher webinars about upcoming books. This one stood out to me because of its Latinx cast and the whole behind-the-scenes of a Jane The Virgin-esque show, based on a telenovela (of course). It is fantastic, a quick read with instantly likable and fun characters. And the tropes! We’re playing love interests but we have insane chemistry! A sensitive, traumatized male lead who learns to open up again! A sassy but insecure female lead who learns to let loose and love again! Hooking up, but we have to keep on the DL or else scandal! And of course, the extended families add to every scene they are in--I loved every interaction Ashton and Jasmine had with their families, it was the cherry on top of a fantastic read. Also the sex scenes are steamy.

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

I got this graphic novel as an advanced reader copy well before it came out, and after reading it, I was sCREAMING because I couldn’t tell all my graphic novel, queer coming-of-age-with-magic loving friends to immediately pick up a copy!! So thankfully, it’s out now, so I can scream to the heavens to please read this!!! It is such a sweet story with beautiful full-color art and fantastic world-building. It has the same silly, referential humor you see in a lot of kids/YA graphic novels these days, but Beetle packs in a lot of heart as well.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Like many people in May/June of this year, I was reading, reading, reading a lot of books about racism from as many Black authors as I could get my hands on. There were many not published this year that should definitely be read (So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo being among the top), but this book really stuck with me because it is written specifically for a younger audience, and Jason Reynolds knows how to talk to kids about tough subjects. Stamped gets across difficult concepts like assimilationists and segregationists in an easy-to-understand, conversational style that doesn’t take away from any of the important history and nuance. This certainly is not The Book of antiracism studies, but it is a good starting point if you are daunted by lengthy title lists and aren’t sure where to begin. I highly recommend the audiobook as well, read by Reynolds himself.

(Side note: I watched this keynote address with Reynolds and Kendi which is an excellent primer into the background of how this book came to be. Reynolds is also just very interesting to listen to)

Honorable Mentions aka Books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years again, not ranked because I CAN’T, OKAY

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

I read this book and then wanted to go back and read it immediately again, not necessarily because it was so amazing, but because I felt like I would get it even more if I did. This is a haunting little book that took turns I was not expecting, even with the book synopsis I read. It is disturbing and features descriptions of an eating disorder, so proceed with caution. However, if you like Gothic tales of haunted houses and the trauma inflicted on us by those who came before, I can’t recommend this one enough.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My last book club read before the pandemic D: We didn’t actually get to meet to discuss this book, but my club (all librarians) were working at our emergency call center at the same time and all reading it, so we KINDA got to discuss it, if not in a formal book club setting. ANYWAY, it’s a thrilling jaunt through 1920s Mexico, following a fantastic Cinderella-esque heroine who makes a deal with a Mayan god to retrieve his body. If you are a fan of the Percy Jackson-brand of mythological adventures, this is definitely one to add to your list, especially if you are looking for something a little bit more Adult.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Okay, I know it’s a young readers/middle grade book, but HEAR ME OUT. This is whimsical and haunting tale about seven little fox kits who set out to scare themselves shitless by hearing scary tales. Only one kit will remain when the night is over, but the one who does will get to hear a surprisingly sweet, and well-earned, happy ending. If you are a Neil Gaiman-esque horror fan, I recommend picking this up. Its scares are fairly scary, especially for its audience, but it’s an engaging story about the lengths we will go for the ones we love.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Did someone say Navajo monster-hunting heroine with magic powers navigating a post-apocalyptic world, oh and also saving it??? Look, Maggie is My Kind of Hero, in that she’s damaged, she drinks too much, she’s surly, but she has a seriously gooey heart of gold underneath all that armor. Navajo mythology is woven into this tale of monster-hunting, surviving. If you’re in Supernatural-disappointment-land, maybe give this a try! It has that Western-y, road trip feel to it, and again, I love the lead character. (It also has a currently published sequel and a soon-to-be-released third book as well!)

This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This was rec’ed to me by a librarian friend, with the words, “Oh, Liz, you’ll really like this.” And she was RIGHT. Red and Blue are on opposite sides of a war waged across time and decide to send letters to each other, at first, to taunt, but then, to understand, to learn, and to love. The details of the war don’t matter much, but what does matter is the achingly beautiful poetry with which Red and Blue reveal themselves to each other. I was told to listen to this one, but I’m glad I read it myself instead. The prose is very purple at times, and I appreciated being able to go back to passages to reread again and again. Oh, and it’s queer (Red and Blue are both female), and SPOILERS SPOILERS has a happy ending.

(also there is a wangxian remix for my mdzs buds. and also a semi-officially sanctioned fanfic sequel???? at least amal el-mohtar linked it from goodreads so whoo! also also it’s very funny)

And that’s my Year in Books 2020! Seeing it laid out like this, I had a surprisingly good year for book reading even though I felt like I barely read anything. For awhile, reading was Hard, and I just wanted to consume fluffy, sweet fanfiction, but I’m getting back into it. Oh, and please let me know if you check any of these out!

Here’s to a good year for books in 2021! ✨

#books #book recs #2020 #book reviews #personal #liz reads

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 10: MJ has too much faith in the POSSIBILITY of redemption

Previous Part

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Master Post

Last time I examined how MJ was repeating Peter’s ‘original sin’ in allowing Beck to not face justice. However I also raised the idea that the situation is different as Beck/his crew are arguably seeking redemption. Does that hold up to scrutiny? Well that’s what this instalment is all about.

At face value the crooks in the story certainly seem like they are seeking redemption.

Beck in particular is trying to make some form of amends and produce something good before he dies. It’s an opportunity he wants to extend to his fellow criminals (along with former felons).

Is shutting down this opportunity really something Mary Jane would do?

Yep.

Let’s ignore for a moment how MJ’s efforts to help her friend Lorraine failed and she was totally tricked by her. After all Lorraine might’ve been doing something illegal but she was the real victim in that situation.

Instead let’s look at some examples from Spider History where Peter encountered seemingly reforming criminals.

Black Cat

The most significant is perhaps that of the Black Cat; a.k.a. Felicia Hardy. Mary Jane doesn’t necessarily have an in depth knowledge of the ups and downs of Peter and Felicia’s relationship. But she would know that for a time Felicia was a criminal who reformed into a fellow crime fighter and then betrayed Peter by framing him for a crime. This all came to light in Spec #129.

Felicia reformed again after that and, after a very rough (somewhat violent) start, befriended MJ and became an ally to Peter. One of the key events that led to the thawing of Felicia’s relationship with the Parker family was her aiding a temporarily depowered Spidey. This occurred in ASM #342-343.

In these issues she helped the powerless Spidey defend innocents, protected him personally and bought time for him to regain his powers. These events entailed risking her life, enduring several injuries, losing her own powers (again temporarily) in the process. Specifically she had to single handedly battle a group of villains most of whom were beyond her weight class.

During and after these events Felicia showed signs of sincerely learning to love the Parkers’ friend Flash Thompson and wanting to start a new (costume free) chapter of her life with him. This was particularly notable because she had previously been dating Flash as a way to get back at Peter for marrying Mary Jane.

However, over consequent years though Felicia vacillated between anti-hero and outright criminal. Many people regard some of these takes out of character for Felicia post-OMD.

However, even before OMD Felicia was still vacillating in her moral alignment. Case in point, in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #5, Felicia reveals she is working for the gang lord known as the Owl. Although she claims she has boundaries she won’t cross whilst in his employ, Peter is still unhappy with her new job.

The facts are Felica was never consistently on the straight and narrow, a fact Peter and MJ were all too aware of.

Sandman

Perhaps a more apt example can be found in the case of the Sandman; a.k.a. Flint Marko. In Marvel Team-Up #138 Sandman was trying to go straight. In the course of the story he defended his neighbours from the Enforcers and actively saved Spider-Man’s life in the process. After the battle Spidey presumes there are outstanding warrants for Sandman’s arrest and tries to bring him in.

Sandman calmly explains he’s trying to reform and requests Spidey let him go. Spidey contemplates the idea because Sandman seems sincere but also considers that he’d be repeating the same mistake he made with Uncle Ben. As such he apologetically explains he can’t take the risk and prepares to apprehend Marko.

Unbeknownst to Spider-Man the last crook standing tosses a grenade his way. Sandman warns Spidey and intercepts the blast, both actions saving Peter’s life.

Spidey leaves the scene uncertain if Sandman survived and how to feel about his alleged attempts to reform.

Spidey and Sandman encountered one another again in ASM #280-281. By chance Marko came across Spidey and mercenary Silver Sable at the mercy of several super villains. He once again saved Spidey’s life.

Soon after this Silver Sable officially hired him. It should be bared in mind that Sable has access to advanced weapons and highly trained soldiers. Perhaps more importantly though, as the ruler of Symkaria she was international political resources. As such it’s likely that Spidey figured Sandman’s outstanding crimes were either pardoned or he was working off his debt to society. And were he to hypothetically get out of line Sable had the resources to reign him in. Later Sandman would join the Avengers, which would be enough for most people to give him the benefit of the doubt, including Spidey or MJ.

Sandman’s alignment with both Silver Sable and the Avengers was a matter of public record. MJ would’ve heard about it just via osmosis; Avengers activities are normally big news after all. Even if she hadn’t, Peter would’ve talked about it because (as discussed in prior instalments) he usually clues her into his super hero life. Sandman being one of the few villains of his to have reformed? That’d not be a topic that’d go undiscussed.

However, for reasons we need not cover extensively, Sandman returned to crime. This too was a matter of public record and MJ was very aware of it since Sandman tussled with Spidey during this time. If nothing else she’d have known he was a villain again from his alliance with Doc Ock in ‘Ends of the Earth’.

Venom

Another Spidey villain who flirted with reform was of course Venom. There have been many ups and downs in Peter’s relationship with both the Venom symbiote itself and its most famous host Eddie Brock. For the purposes of this essay though we’re just going to be focussing upon events that transpired in the 1990s.

The first of these occurred in ASM #362 where Peter controversially formed an alliance with Venom to stop his sadistic spawn Carnage. Peter banked upon Venom’s sense of justice and desire to protect innocents as a way to gain his aid, but he also had to promise to allow Venom to walk free when their mission was complete.

As it turned out though that was a risk Peter wasn’t willing to take. This was he had secretly plotted for the Fantastic Four to capture Venom once Carnage had been dealt with.

It’s worth remembering that Mary Jane had had a particularly bad experience when Venom first showed up and dealing with him was as much for her protection as for the world’s at large.

At the conclusion of their next encounter (ASM #375), Spidey and Venom made another arrangement. This controversial deal amounted to Spidey allowing Venom to walk free in exchange for Venom staying away from him. Peter’s rationale for this deal was born from a ‘live to fight another day’ mentality as he was exhausted and would’ve likely died had he continued to fight Venom. Mere moments after agreeing to this though Peter tried to tag Venom with a spider tracer.

The very next story though (Venom: Lethal Protector) a recovered Peter tracks Venom down all the way to San Francisco and attempts to bring him in. Peter even acknowledges Venom being a disturbed killer and that his talk of ‘protecting innocents’ is bull.

During the course of the story Venom at times helped Spidey. But more importantly he refrained from killing Spidey (his life’s ambition) and asked for his help in saving countless innocents at the story’s climax. This was enough for Peter to temporarily help Brock again.

During the final battle Venom had no choice but to go through flames; fire being one of the things symbiotes are especially vulnerable to. Spidey is shocked by Venom’s selflessness, especially when Venom commented that Spidey himself would’ve done no different.

At the end of the story Peter tells MJ that he now believes in Venom’s change of heart, but qualifies that he’s returning to NYC in part because he can’t hunt Venom forever.

Essentially these experiences convinced Peter that Venom was sincere in his desire to turn over a new leaf, but that he should still be brought to justice nevertheless.

Inevitably Venom returned to his old ways and from there vacilated wildly in his moral alignment. As one of Peter’s most famous foes Venom’s activities were heavily covered in the news. Peter and MJ would’ve also kept an ear out and kept one another informed due to how personal Venom’s vendetta against them was and how dangerous he was. Basically MJ would’ve been aware Venom was rarely consistently on the side of the angels.

Boomerang

Next up we have a much more recent example, Spidey’s roommate Fred Myers, a.k.a. Boomerang. I would ask you to bear in mind that at the time of writing this I have only read up to ASM v5 #36 so events after that issue might further support or undermine my arguments.

One might argue that MJ giving Mysterio and his crew a chance at redemption is no different to Peter doing the same for Boomerang in very recent stories. However, there are very important nuances that differentiate the Peter/Fred situation to the MJ/Beck situation.*

The most important of these was that Myers got a full pardon for all his past crimes following H.Y.D.R.A.’s defeat in Secret Empire.

Boomerang committed crimes after his pardoning, notably robbing a museum. However, for reasons that baffled and concerned Spidey the mayor (Wilson Fisk, the ‘former’ Kingpin of Crime) allowed Myers to escape and even spun his crimes in such a way to exonerate him.

Spidey did let Boomerang initially escape but his rationale was purely because he didn’t know what Fisk wanted. This might seem contentious but it adds up when you think about it. If Fisk were the mayor then apprehending Boomerang would be tantamount to delivering him directly to Fisk, who is a far more powerful and dangerous threat. This logic would then extend to when Myers became Peter’s roommate.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, especially when bringing them in could potentially help a much worse enemy. In the meantime Myers living with Peter could allow him to monitor him (using a spider tracer) and gather valuable information about what he (and Fisk) were up to.

Peter remains sceptical and lays out his concerns directly to his other roommate Randy Robertson.

In ASM v5 #6-7 Boomerang took Peter (out of costume) to ‘The Bar-with-no-name’ (a hang out for super villains) for a trivia night. One might argue this situation echoes MJ being surrounded by super villains on her film set. But what distinguishes this situation from that one is the safety Peter’s abilities afford. He’s taken on groups of baddies before and most of the ones here are B-listers at best. More importantly though is that this presents an opportunity for Peter to gather valuable information, a fact that is framed as the reason he sticks around.

True, he also begins to enjoy himself but he also begins to empathise with them through spending time with them. Nevertheless he acknowledges that tomorrow he will be back to trying to catch them.

Peter’s reluctance to turn them in immediately can be viewed as a human flaw on his part. He empathises with the villains up to a point and begins to genuinely enjoy himself. Isn’t Mary Jane allowed to be flawed as well?

Sure she is, except MJ’s ‘flaw’ in AMJ is markedly worse than Peter’s here. In AMJ Mary Jane is complicit in several crimes via her silence and is allowing dangerous crooks with outstanding warrants for arrest to operate freely. Peter might be somewhat in the wrong for not turning them in then and there, but he at least intends on apprehending them eventually and in the interim uses the opportunity to gain information that will over all help combat more crimes. In theory he could simply put a call through to the cops or the Avengers that night. MJ on the other hand seemingly has no plan to apprehend the criminals she’s working with at all.

As the story progresses the Kingpin puts a bounty on Boomerang’s head prompting the assembled crooks to turn on him and Peter. The pair are forced to fight their way to freedom, during the course of which Boomerang provides some cover for Pete and a weapon to defend himself with.

At a critical point in the battle Boomerang selflessly takes a nasty hit meant for Peter; which leaves the latter shocked and baffled.

After Pete buys a little time Fred follows this up with an exploding boomerang and shoves Peter to safety.

Fred reveals he refrained from using his explosive earlier because he genuinely loved the bar; further exemplifying his sincere desire for companionship. In spite of this Peter still doesn’t regard Fred as redeemed nor reformed. Fred then confesses that he created robot duplicates of his old gang members (known to readers as the Superior Foes) due to missing their companionship and recognizing that his betrayals of them left him lonely. Moving in with Peter and Randy seemed like a second chance to him and Peter, in spite of his better judgment decides to give Fred that second chance.

What differentiates this from what MJ is doing (besides Boomerang not being half as bad as Mysterio and not backed up by a whole crew of crooks) is that Peter is giving Fred this chance after he has actively demonstrated redeeming qualities.

Fred might be lying about his desire for companionship (just Mysterio might be lying to MJ about everything else) but Fred didn’t and couldn’t have faked saving Peter’s life at risk to himself.

Actions speak louder than words and in AMJ all Mary Jane has is the word of a notorious deceiver that neither he nor his crew are up to no good and will behave themselves…you know apart from all the crimes he already fessed up to like identity theft.

In fact all of the instances listed above involve the criminals actively demonstrating redeeming behaviour. Typically these have taken the form of risking their lives to protect innocents and/or their enemy Spider-Man.**

However Peter has also not trusted them blindly.

In Felicia’s case she lost her powers so her ability to commit crimes was reduced and she had saved his life and been a crime fighter enough that it’s likely he felt she deserved yet another chance.*** In Sandman’s case he began working for someone who could arrange for his legal situation to be straightened out and had the means to keep him under control too. In Venom’s case Peter recognized his change for the better but never fully trusted him, merely letting him go because he was physically unable to find him. And in Fred’s case turning him over the authorities could prove worse than temporarily allowing him to walk free whilst Peter kept a close eye on him.

Mary Jane was either a witness to these incidents or at least would’ve likely heard about them from Peter. As I demonstrated in parts 3-5 Peter shares most of his experiences with Mary Jane. Additionally, her own sense of justice and responsibility is clearly shaped by Peter’s (to some extent).

So in the case of a guy she has no means or monitoring, can’t be sure she’s keeping an eye on because he’s a master illusionist (who literally has highly convincing holograms/robot duplicates), has no reliable means of restraining and has never demonstrated any redeeming actions to her she should NOT be trusting him to go straight; let alone a whole crew of villains…

…But if you are reeaaaaaaaaaalllly still unconvinced…let’s talk about the Black Fox.

The Black Fox

The Black Fox is an elderly gentlemen thief/cat burglar that Peter had an encounter with back in ASM #265. The story ended with Peter learning that the Black Fox’s latest scheme was merely his last after which he hoped to retire and be with his family. In response to this Peter helped the Fox escape, although he recovered the stolen goods first.

Years later in ASM #305 Spidey again encountered the Fox who in fact hadn’t retired. And yet Spidey once again let him go again out of pity.

In ASM #349 he once more found the Fox in mid-crime and let him go again. Afterwards Peter confessed to MJ that this cycle of behaviour with the Fox was deeply upsetting him.

Spidey allowing the Fox to go free once again actually resulted in a major incident involving Doctor Doom of all people!

After a concussion induced conversation with Uncle Ben (a creation of his subconscious) Peter realized his leniency on the Fox was born from a general sympathy for older men (who naturally reminded him of his uncle).

Having resolved his issues Peter was then capable of bringing the Fox to justice.

Mary Jane was obviously aware of this adventure as Peter actively talked to her about her hang ups with the Fox during the course of it, and it would be baffling to believe that he wouldn’t have then told her he brought him in eventually.

If MJ is aware of how Peter’s morality played out here, the repercussions of his leniency on the Fox and the internal strife caused by letting him go there is no way in Hell she’d make the same mistakes with Mysterio. She doesn’t even have the same excuse as there is no huge trauma from her youth inclining her to be unreasonably sympathetic to Beck or his crew.

The Black Fox is honestly nowhere near as dangerous, manipulative or as unethical as Mysterio. If the Black Fox deserves to face justice for his far less damaging crimes, then Mysterio and his cohorts ethically shouldn’t be given a free pass by MJ or even the chance to do something good before they’ve paid their debts to society either.

The situation with the Fox proves the dangers of simply giving criminals the benefit of the doubt blindly, whilst every other reforming or reformed criminal has either proven themselves somehow or done so within some kind of controlled environment.

That wasn’t the case for the Fox, and it certainly isn’t the case for Mysterio from MJ’s point of view.

Finally let’s talk about one very significant instance that some might bring up to counter all I’ve said above.

Let’s talk about Mary Jane’s father.

Phillip Watson

You will recall in the last instalment I examined how MJ ultimately turned him into the cops for his crimes for the greater good and even at the risk of her sister’s freedom.

Well in the Clone Saga they met again. MJ felt compelled to settle some unfinished family business and thus confronted her sister and then (separately) her father.

For some context not only had her father committed a crime, not only had he exploited MJ’s sister Gayle and thereby caused her to wind up arrested, but in her childhood he had routinely verbally abused both girls along with their mother and physically assaulted Gayle once.

MJ had major beef with her father over this and hadn’t let it go by the time she met up with him again in ASM #292. In said issue she even referred to him as ‘Phillip’ rather than ‘Dad’, father, etc.

It could be speculated that her decision to turn him in might’ve been influenced by this bad baggage. Although she was also uncertain of that due to her attachment to him and possibly perceived guilt over her parents’ break up.

In Spec #219 MJ nervously confronts her father. After making some small talk she is enraged when she sees he’s kept a picture of her mother. She feels that after how he treated her he doesn’t have that right.

However her surprises her when he breaks down in tears admitting he’s ashamed of how he acted and that he’s haunted by how he hurt and abandoned MJ’s mother. MJ connects with this, drawing a comparison with how she abandoned her sister Gayle in her time of need. She even states this to her father.

Spec #119

She manages to emotionally connect with her father and even forgive him. Whilst it’s only a start she feels complete and like in some way she has her family back, which fills her with joy.

You could take this situation and make a strong case for MJ being willing to forgive Mysterio right?

She did it for someone who had been a criminal and personally hurt her and her family in a very serious way. So why wouldn’t she extend that so someone who had also harmed her and her family. Harmed them in ways that might be argued to be not as bad as her father?

The problem with such a comparison is that it’s not exactly a fair equivalency at all.

To begin with, though he had been a criminal, MJ’s father had served his time and faced the legal repercussions for his crimes. MJ had no hint that he was in the midst of committing any other crimes when she reunited with him, nor that he’d be likely to go on to commit any crimes.

Even the crimes h had committed were far less numerous and far less bad than those in Mysterio’s criminal career. MJ’s father for instance never drugged and sexually violated a teenaged girl or attempted murder. And given his age, health, intelligence and history the chances of him committing further crimes if

Now there was a lot of emotional baggage and pain MJ carried in relation to her father but as evidenced in ASM #292 her feelings towards him were not black and white. A part of her felt some combination of guilt and loyalty towards him. Furthermore, when we learned of MJ’s past in ASM #259, she also revealed that following their separation, she tried to write to her father a few times.

Why would MJ as a tween/teen do such a thing? Why try to connect with someone who abused her and her loved ones, someone she intellectually knew was bad for everyone concerned?

The sad truth is such things are often happen in real life in similar situations. It is born from an immensely strong natural and innate need within all human beings to form bonds with our parental figures.****

MJ’s earliest (and therefore some of her most formative) memories involve her father, about how (in her mind at least) she loved him and he loved her. How he was the one man in her life who was supposed to always love her no matter what.

So even if he wound up far from that ideal, there is still a yearning within MJ on some level for that. Hence her attempts to reconnect with him both in ASM #259 and Spec #219, along with her uncertainty in ASM #292.

And that’s the single most critical difference between this situation and the one with Beck.

Beck is not her father.

She hasn’t got any positive emotional attachment to him (imagined or otherwise) nor is there a potent need within her to have one.

From her point of view he is simply a very bad and very dangerous person who has done horrible things, has hurt her and hurt the people she cares about. Someone who is doing something very bad right now and who stands a very strong chance of consequently doing further bad things that might harm other people (including herself and her loved ones).

Not to mention her father was not a slick professional liar like Mysterio was. MJ has no reason to believe his emotional breakdown is a performance whereas with Beck it’s extremely possible that he is just acting.

There is one other aspect of this example to explore though. Namely how MJ saw herself and her father as kindred spirits. Is it possible she sees herself and Beck in a similar light and thereby affords him the benefit of the doubt? Well, that’s a topic for another time.

Suffice it to say that all the experiences we’ve looked at would give Mary Jane a belief in redemption…but not a blind faith. For her there would have to be particular factors in play to justify such faith in the first place and neither Beck nor his crew fit those factors whatsoever.

Thus MJ would not give them a chance, at least not under these circumstances. In fact, in Mysterio’s case, she wouldn’t give him a chance under pretty much any circumstance. This is because, however much sympathy MJ might hold for the death of a fellow human being, her sympathy would only go so far for Mysterio. It would most certainly not stretch to believing him capable of redemption.

That’s a subject more for next time though.

*There are certain obvious physical differences in these two dynamics, but we’ll discuss those another time. Right now we’re strictly looking at MJ giving Beck and his crew a chance to make good.

**One could argue in saving Peter’s life he owes them at least the chance to prove they can turn over a new leaf.

***Of course we could just say his old feelings for her were affecting his judgement, but obviously that wouldn’t be a factor for MJ and Beck.

****There are countless examples of this within real life and fiction, a particularly poignant example can be found in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Will Smith’s character is presented the chance to reconnect with his father who abandoned him as a child and ultimately takes up the opportunity. When his father abandons him again he tries to shrug it off but his anger and grief is immense.

P.S. I shouldn’t have to spell this out but I will. Beck claims in AMJ #1 that he is trying to do something good by making his movie and giving fellow crooks a chance to help him. Despite the issue’s framing this absolutely would not count as a good deed. Not to MJ and according to just common sense.

Making a movie or a piece of art is not inherently a good thing. Even if it was as good deeds go it’s not the most meaningful or helpful. Certainly not the most actively helpful thing Beck personally could do.

It certainly doesn’t constitute a good deed when you consider the subject matter of the movie is himself. This is just a criminal’s vanity project which he is making with the aid of other criminals. Nothing more.

It is hardly equivalent to protecting innocent people or risking your life as many of the above characters did.

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#Leah Williams #Amazing Mary Jane #Mysterio #Quentin Beck #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #mjwatsonedit #spider-man #peter parker #Black Cat #Felicia Hardy #Sandman #William Baker #flint marko

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